


Highwaymen

by Dont_touch_the_phlebotinum



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternative Universe - FBI, Criminal Loki & Bucky, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-27 04:32:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/974374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dont_touch_the_phlebotinum/pseuds/Dont_touch_the_phlebotinum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When lapsed FBI agent Bucky Barnes came out of hiding with dangerous company and worse intentions, Tony Stark knew things would be complicated. Yet he didn't anticipate just how much of an impact the case would have on him, or how far he would get sucked into Bucky and Loki's world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tony Stark stood and stared as the cloud of dust settled along the stretch of road before him, the 1961 Continental carrying Loki and Bucky rapidly shrinking into the distance and hopefully – or not; Tony wasn't quite sure how he felt yet – out of his life for good. He stayed rooted in place until all he could see was a red speck before climbing back into his own car, functioning on auto-pilot as he started the engine and headed off in the opposite direction. It was a good thing the road was so quiet or else Tony probably would have had an accident, too lost in his own thoughts to focus on his driving.

He was completely, unquestionably fucked.

 

_Six months earlier:_

Tony was running late, as usual. He raced into the office, still juggling his car keys and a cup of way-too-hot coffee, and frowned as he snaked his way through the room towards his desk. The place was eerily quiet compared to the usual din that greeted him.

"You're late," Maria said as Tony neared her desk.

"Thanks, mom." It was only as Tony rounded the corner to reach his own desk that he realised the area was almost completely deserted. There was no way the others could all be later than him. He was always the last one into the office, unless he'd ended up working so late the night before he hadn't bothered to go home. Which did happen; usually on days he was supposed to have plans with Pepper, to her endless frustration. Apparently bailing on every third date was inappropriate boyfriend behaviour. "Where is everybody?"

"In a meeting with Fury."

"Crap. Am I supposed to be there?"

"Yes."

 _"Crap_." Tony hadn't particularly wanted to start his day by getting on Nick Fury's bad side. "How late am I?"

Maria's gaze finally left the stack of paperwork in front of her so she could shoot Tony an exasperated look. "Only about two minutes," she sighed. "If Fury asks, your car wouldn't start. You called me forty minutes ago to let me know you'd be late."

Tony grinned at her as he dumped his things on the desk and headed over to the conference room. "Hill, you're a queen. I'm buying you dinner tonight. No arguments."

He caught her roll her eyes as he slipped inside the room. The others were all sat around the table or leaning against the back wall while Fury spoke.

"Nice of you to join us, Agent Stark," said Fury, though he wasn't nearly as mad as Tony thought he would be. That didn't bode well. Whatever he'd called them in to discuss, it had to be serious if he wasn't in the mood to tear Tony a new one.

"As I was saying," he continued, "we've had reports of three banks and a jewellery store being hit so far, starting upstate and heading west. These guys are just getting started."

"Any casualties?" Clint said. Tony hadn't even noticed him, he was tucked away in the corner so discreetly.

"One security guard shot dead, as well as a woman killed in a carjacking I strongly suspect they were involved in. But that's not the most distressing news." He pinned a black and white photo to the board behind him and Tony recognised the man in the picture immediately. His hair was longer than Tony had seen it and his face almost haunted, yet there was no doubt who they were all looking at. Tony's eyes flicked across the room to Steve staring at the image with a stricken expression on his face, as Fury spoke again. "Security cameras caught this last night. We've found Barnes."

Uncomfortable silence filled the room as disbelief and horror settled over everyone. Tony hadn't moved to New York until after the drama surrounding Agent Barnes had occurred, but he'd heard enough about it to piece together the story. James ‘Bucky' Barnes had been Steve's partner until he'd had some kind of meltdown and decided life on the other side of the law held more appeal, getting himself mixed up with the kind of guys no sane person would want to associate with before dropping off the radar completely. Tony had seen it happen before, though by all accounts Barnes had been a stand-up guy. He was the last person anyone would expect to turn to the dark side, and everyone was still reeling from the event three years later.

"Banner, I want you and Stark on this."

"What?" Steve interrupted, trying as hard as he could to hold onto his calm demeanour, though the tension in his body was obvious even from Tony's spot on the other side of the room.

"You're too close to this, Rogers. The only reason I called you all in here is because I wanted you to find out about the case from me rather than someone else. We can't stop being professionals here just because Bucky was a friend of ours."

He nodded to dismiss them and everyone filtered from the room, a few hushed sentences passing between them but none of the light-hearted discourse the group typically shared. Working for the FBI was hardly the most uplifting of careers in general, yet today was looking to be even more sombre than usual.

Steve was waiting by Tony's desk as Tony headed towards him. "What can I do?" he said.

"You heard Fury."

"Tony, this is _Bucky_. I have to help." His face was heartbreaking as he looked down at Tony. He could sympathise – if it was Bruce or Tony's old partner back on the West Coast, Rhodey, who'd snapped and gone AWOL he wouldn't be able to sit around and let someone else work the case.

Tony sighed and glanced across the room to make sure Fury was safely back in his office. "Okay," he said. "What can you tell me about Bucky Barnes?"

*******

Bucky tossed the gun he'd been cleaning down on the coffee table, the metal colliding with the glass tabletop with a loud clatter. Loki paid it no mind. He sat at the dining table in their hotel suite's sprawling, obnoxiously modern living room, a cigarette dangling between his lips as he counted the previous night's spoils.

From the corner of his eye he saw Bucky stand up and stretch his arms back up over his head, the ancient black t-shirt he insisted didn't need throwing out riding up to reveal his well-muscled stomach and the sharp V of his hips. He grinned when he caught Loki's eyes lingering, but before he could say anything Loki shifted his attention back to the table loaded with half-organised stacks of money. If he let himself get distracted with Bucky every time his lust spiked neither of them would ever get anything done.

"I'm going to bed," Bucky announced as he headed towards the bedroom. "You coming?"

"I'm not tired." It had been at least 24 hours since he'd last slept, but adrenaline still pumped through Loki's veins and his energy showed no signs of waning. Which was just as well, given the amount of money he had yet to count.

"Neither am I."

Loki glanced up to meet Bucky's eyes and found him leaning against the doorframe wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. He couldn't help but laugh at the expression. Well, there was no harm in taking a few hours off, he supposed. "I'll be there in a second."

"Don't keep me waiting too long," Bucky called from inside the bedroom, "or I'll start without you."

He'd stripped down to his boxer shorts by the time Loki had taken one last drag of his cigarette and stubbed it out into his empty glass before crossing to the doorway, though this time Loki had no interest in stopping to savour the view. His arms curled around Bucky's waist while his lips travelled along his jaw and Bucky leant backwards into the embrace, a contented noise sounding deep in his throat as Loki's hand brushed across the front of his crotch.

"So how much did we get?" Bucky said, twisting in Loki's arms to tug off his shirt and trousers while dragging him towards the bed. Their lips met as they collapsed onto the mattress, bodies moving against each other and kisses growing deeper before Loki pulled back.

"Not enough."

Bucky nodded, all traces of desire pushed aside for the moment. "We should get out of town before we pull another job. I don't want to push our luck staying in the state for too long, give people a chance to catch up with us."

"Good idea. So," Loki said, leaving wet kisses down Bucky's chest as he slid down to hook his fingers under the waistband of Bucky's shorts, "where shall we go next?"


	2. Chapter 2

“This is it.”

Loki pulled over and peered out across the road, struggling to see anything but foliage in the light from the headlamps until eventually he spotted a gap in the tree line, just wide enough for a car to drive through. He hadn’t caught sight of a single house so far, all nestled back from the silent road. It was a good spot.

“I’ve had eyes on this place almost a week,” Bucky continued beside him. “No-one’s come or gone.”

“And the owner?”

“Recluse, far as I can tell. I doubt anyone will even notice he’s gone.”

“Let’s go, then.” With a quick glance to make sure there were no other cars about to round the corner behind them, Loki turned down the gravel path leading to the house. It was dark inside, the only light shining through the house’s floor-to-ceiling windows coming from the bedroom at the end of the property, and luckily it didn’t seem like their arrival had been noticed.

Bucky was out of the car before it had even come to a complete halt, scanning the area one last time while Loki killed the engine and retrieved his gun from the glove compartment. He nodded once to Loki as he stepped from the vehicle and they strode towards the front door together, gravel crunching under their feet with each step.

All that could be heard after Bucky rang the doorbell was the faint sound of trickling water coming from behind the house. Loki didn’t expect to hear much traffic on the road – they hadn’t passed a single car in the last half-hour of their journey – yet he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the house owner had seen their car pull up and called the police. His fingers tightened reflexively around the grip of his gun, until lights clicked on inside the house and the front door swung open.

“Can I help you?” A man who looked to be in his mid-50s stood in the doorway, a puzzled frown creasing his brows as he looked from Bucky to Loki.

“Hi,” Bucky said, plastering a charming smile across his face. “Are you Ken Yoshida?”

“Yes.”

“We need your house.” Loki raised his gun as he spoke. He pulled the trigger without blinking and the body of Mr. Yoshida fell to the ground, a look of horror frozen on his features.

***

Tony rubbed his tired eyes and slid further down in his seat. He was damn sick of speaking to witnesses. It had been almost two weeks since he and Bruce had been assigned the case, and so far the only thing they were certain of was that Bucky had a partner. And all this time trying to figure out what really happened from the conflicting accounts they’d heard was time they weren’t spending tracking the pair down.

He looked up as the driver’s side door of Bruce’s car opened with a squeak and Bruce climbed in, a tray of drinks balanced in his palm. “Black coffee, two sugars,” he said, handing one of the cups to Tony.

Tony didn’t wait to let it cool down before taking a gulp. At least burning his tongue would wake him up a bit. “Tell me we’re almost done for the night.”

“Mm.” Bruce nodded with a mouth full of herbal tea. How he could drink that without feeling even more tired was beyond Tony, but he couldn’t be bothered to question it. Bruce rooted around in the pocket of his overcoat and handed Tony a slip of paper with a name and address scribbled on it. “Hotel manager; says two men matching Bucky and his friend’s descriptions checked into a suite on the 3rd.”

“The night they hit the second bank.”

“Yeah. Hopefully it’ll give us more to go on than witness statements.”

Thank God for that. If they didn’t find a decent lead soon Tony was going to scream. He was impatient at the best of times, so when there were dangerous criminals just out of his reach Tony was not in the mood to chase dead ends.

His phone chirped in his pocket as Bruce finished his drink and pulled back out into the traffic. “Do you need to answer that?” Bruce said, watching Tony slide the still-ringing phone back into his coat.

“It’s just Pepper; it’s not anything important.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“Yeah,” he said. “She probably just wants to chat. It’s been a few days since we spoke.”

A frown creased Bruce’s brows, just visible in the light from the car in front’s brake lights. “Isn’t today your anniversary?”

“No, it’s not ‘til the 16th.” He was trying not to think about his and Pepper’s one-year anniversary. He still had no idea what he was going to get her. She already had plenty of jewellery, though since he’d never been capable of buying her presents she actually liked, jewellery might still be the safer option, unless by some miracle he came up with something better.

“Tony, it is the 16th.”

What? That couldn’t be right. Tony prayed that wasn’t right. He stared at Bruce, wide eyed, and Bruce’s expression said it all; it was the 16th, and Tony was in so much trouble. His phone went off again. He didn’t need to check to see who was calling.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get that?”

Funnily enough, he didn’t fancy facing Pepper’s wrath in front of Bruce. Bruce wouldn’t care – he’d probably go conveniently deaf for the duration of their exchange – but even so, Tony would rather talk to Pepper in person.

“I’ll smooth things over with her in the morning. Let’s go talk to this guy.”

 

Tony smiled appreciatively when he and Bruce stepped into the extravagant lobby of the hotel. It had been a while since he’d been surrounded by such luxury. Growing up this had been all Tony knew, 5-star hotels all over the world, butlers and fancy parties, though the FBI didn’t pay nearly as well as being the CEO of your own billion-dollar company did, and Howard Stark did not dispense free handouts. Not that Tony would have accepted his dad’s money even if he offered. If he’d wanted that life so badly he would have gone to work at Stark Industries like his dad had wanted him to.

“Hi,” Bruce said as they reached the sharply-dressed man standing at the front desk, “I'm Special Agent Banner; this is my partner Special Agent Stark–”

“You’re here about those men who were on the news?” Bruce nodded and the man gestured for them to follow him. “They checked into one of our largest suites just after 1am, and were gone the next morning,” he said as he led Bruce and Tony down a long, grey corridor, ignoring the doors they passed until they reached the end of the hall and entered a small room to find a security guard keeping a watchful eye on a bank of computer monitors inside.

“Paid cash, I take it,” Tony said.

“Yes, and I imagine the name they gave was fake as well, if these are the men you two are looking for. We have surveillance footage.”

“Well that’s something, at least.” Though Tony wasn’t entirely sure what good it would do knowing where Bucky was two weeks ago if it gave no indication of where he was now.

Bruce pulled his glasses from his pocket and leant forward for a closer look once the footage of two dark-haired men flashed up onto the screen. “That’s definitely Bucky. His partner matches the witnesses’ descriptions as well.”

“I'm guessing that suitcase of theirs isn’t filled with clothes, then,” the security guard said.

“Looking at Barnes’ jeans I doubt he owns enough outfits to fill a suitcase.”

“We’re not here to judge their fashion sense, Tony.”

“You take all the fun out of the job.”

They watched the rest of the footage in silence. There was nothing remarkable about it – that was, until Tony noticed a valet ticket Bucky’s hand. They had a car. He and Bruce had finally found their lead.

***

Sweat trickled down the back of Loki’s neck. He felt filthy, his body drenched and sure to be covered in dirt and filth by now, standing waist-deep in the hole he and Bucky had been digging in the woods behind their new home.

“That’ll do,” Bucky said above him as he sank the head of his shovel into the ground. “Come on.”

Loki watched him make his way back towards the house for a moment, before casting his own shovel aside and climbing up to follow him, roots and scrub bushes catching at his ankles every so often. He gazed longingly at the swimming pool as he crossed the patio, though he forced the thought of sinking into the cool water from his mind. They had more important things to do tonight.

The body still lying by the front door was the first thing that caught Loki’s eye when he slipped back inside. Loki had seen plenty of dead bodies in his time, had been responsible for more than a few of them, though he’d never given much thought to it before. Certainly not enough for him to stand over the body as he was, staring down at the blood congealing on the hardwood floor, at the eyes now glassy and lifeless; nothing more than an empty shell.

It was a curious thing, the taking of a life.

“You have got to check out this guy’s shower!” Bucky emerged from the hall to the side of the kitchen area and Loki’s head snapped up, thoughts back on the matter at hand.

“No shower curtain, then?” he said, looking down at the bundle of white fabric in Bucky’s arms.

“Nah. I got bedsheets, though.” Bucky spread the sheet on the ground at Loki’s feet and the pair set to work bundling up the body. Blood seeped through the cotton and Loki frowned at the stained lump at his feet.

“It’s not terribly inconspicuous, is it?”

“Someone finds something this size in a shallow grave in the woods, they already know it’s a body. It’s that I'm more concerned about people seeing.” He nodded at the puddle soaking into the floor.

“We’ll search for some bleach afterwards.”

They scooped up the bundle and headed back into the garden. It was a cloudy night, the only illumination coming from the house and the few lamps dotted around the edge of the patio area, and once Loki and Bucky had taken a few steps into the trees the light dropped away almost completely. Loki had had the good sense to leave his torch to identify the grave site and they found the spot easily enough, burying the body without a word.

Bucky was the first to break the silence. “We should come back out during the day,” he said as he kicked some twigs and leaves over the disturbed earth. “Make sure it doesn’t look too obvious, you know.”

“Do you think anyone’s likely to stumble across it?” Loki doubted there were many people who would venture so near to the house, but there was always a chance a dog walker or hiker could pass by.

“No, but better safe than sorry. Come on.”

He reached out to give Loki’s wrist a gentle tug and they returned to the welcoming warmth of the house. Loki stifled a yawn as he stepped inside, his eyelids heavy and body aching for rest, but there was still more to be done before he could give in to the sleep he so badly wanted. He shuffled towards the kitchen area, indifferent to the mud he tracked across the room, and began rooting through cupboards while Bucky went to check for cleaning supplies in the garage.

“Oh my god.”

Loki whirled around. “What is it?”

“Come and look at this.” Loki crossed the room to join Bucky in the garage, rolling his eyes as he found him staring in awe at the half-dozen classic cars filling the room. “Poor old Kenny had good taste.”

“They’re just cars, James.”

Bucky turned to shoot him an incredulous look. “Are you kidding? These are things of beauty. My old man always wanted a car like this,” he said, stroking the hood of an old Camaro with so much warmth in his eyes Loki couldn’t suppress the smile that crept across his face. He had never seen Bucky look at anything as fondly as he gazed at the cars, moving from one to the next to study every inch of them in reverence. Bucky had always remained tight-lipped about what prompted him to abandon his former career, though whatever it was had to have been serious – a fool could see that even after so long Bucky’s carefree demeanour was forced more often than not, and Loki had caught plenty of glimpses at the darkness lurking behind Bucky’s smile – so it was a joy to see him genuinely happy for a change.

“Do they still work?” Loki said.

“Looks like they’ve been well taken care of.”

“Good. We can get rid of that pile of junk out front, then.”

Bucky nodded, his eyes still fixed on a blue car Loki didn’t recognise. “I’ll dump it after we’ve cleaned up the living room. Hey,” he said as he turned back and pointed at the wall behind Loki, “cleaning supplies.”

 

Loki sighed when he glanced at the clock in the hall on his way to the bathroom. It was after 2am already. On a normal day 2am would still be considered relatively early for him, though his normal days didn’t tend to involve burying corpses and scrubbing away bloodstains. He couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer once he stepped into the oversized shower, so he leant against the cold tiles and let the water wash over him, until he heard a sound from the main room and was immediately back on high alert.

He needn’t have worried. Bucky strolled into the bathroom a few seconds later, stripping off his clothes as he crossed the room before climbing into the shower behind Loki. “Car’s gone,” he said. “Told you this shower was great, didn’t I?”

Loki hummed his agreement, while Bucky’s hands found his sides to lather soap into his skin. “I don’t see how one person could need this much space, though.”

“Maybe he was a total pussy hound and liked to have wild orgies all over the place.”

That was a pleasant thought. Bucky must have noticed Loki’s nose wrinkle in distaste, for he chuckled softly, his lips brushing against Loki’s back and his hands reaching up to rinse the dirt and caked blood from Loki’s long hair.

“You know,” he said, “I could see us staying here – for a while, at least.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. So we’re not schlepping our stuff all over the country, it could be like a base of operations.”

Loki glanced back at Bucky as he shut off the water. “Or perhaps it could be a home.”

“That sounds better.”

Loki smiled to himself once they had climbed into bed, Bucky curled against him snoring lightly. Yes, that definitely did sound better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this ended up getting really fluffy towards the end, don't ask me how. Apparently ruthlessly murdering an innocent person inspires all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings.


	3. Chapter 3

“Aw come on, Pep, don’t be mad.”

Pepper’s eyebrows creased, the only change in her stony face. So far she hadn’t said a word, just stared with that same cold expression as she sat, arms crossed and legs folded at the knee, in her favourite armchair across the room from Tony. He almost wished she’d shout at him. This quiet anger of hers was so much worse.

“I'm sorry; did you just say ‘don’t be mad’? Did you really just say that? It’s one thing not to turn up to our dates, Tony – I'm used to it – but on our anniversary? Not to mention the fact that you didn’t even bother to call me! Do you have any idea how worried I was? I spent all night thinking you’d been hurt and I was going to get a call from Nick Fury any moment telling me you were dead. I think I'm entitled to be mad.”

“I know; I'm an inconsiderate ass and a terrible boyfriend and you deserve so much better.” He really did want to treat her better, remember when they had plans and actually bother to get in touch with her from time to time, but something else always seemed to get in the way. It wasn’t like he had much experience with this, either; Tony’s longest relationship before Pepper had lasted all of about two weeks, and he couldn’t actually remember them spending any time together outside of the bedroom in that period. Honestly, it was a mystery how he and Pepper had lasted this long.

It was the chase that had appealed to Tony. Pepper didn’t do meaningless sex and Tony would have done anything to have her, and somehow they were still together a year later. Tony was a better man for it, yet he and Pepper were both well aware that he wasn’t good enough for her.

“The importance of the work you do,” she continued, “I can appreciate that it comes first. But this is too much, Tony. Your colleagues manage to balance work with their personal lives, so why can’t you? Is it me? Do you just not care about me enough to try? Do you even love me, Tony?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Do you?” she said again, her voice firmer this time.

“I–” Tony’s phone rang before he could finish his sentence. “It’s Bruce,” he said as he looked back up to meet Pepper’s glare, “I have to take this.”

She rolled her eyes in response.

“It’s our lucky day,” said Bruce by way of greeting when Tony answered the call. “Bucky’s car has been found.”

“We talking field trip?”

“Yeah. My car’s in the shop though – can you drive us?”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll pick you up in about an hour and a half.”

“Great. See you, Tony.”

Pepper was rearranging the hemline of her pencil skirt when Tony turned around, purposefully ignoring him. “I have to take off for a couple days,” he started, bracing himself for Pepper’s reaction. The explosion didn’t come, though, of course. Instead she shrugged, suddenly fascinated with making sure she had her briefcase ready for work.

“Fine.”

“I’ll call you tonight.” She finally met his eyes, but regardless of whatever she was clearly itching to say she stayed silent, and Tony let himself out of her apartment without another word. Maybe this would be good, him staying away for a few days and giving Pepper a chance to cool off. Though knowing his luck, he’d come back to find her even angrier than she was now.

But Tony pushed the thought from his mind as he made his way back to his own cramped apartment to pack. He had enough to deal with trying to track down Bucky – he couldn’t think about Pepper as well.

 

“Where are we heading?” Tony said once Bruce slid into the passenger seat and deposited his overnight bag in the back alongside Tony’s. He opened his mouth to reply, though when he caught sight of Tony’s breakfast balanced on his lap as he drove Bruce shook his head instead, an exasperated smile on his face.

“Bucky’s car showed up three states over. Looks like it was only dumped last night.”

“They could already be out of town if they’ve stolen another one since then.” Tony really hoped that wasn’t the case, though. They’d been chasing dead ends for too long; their only good lead couldn’t dry up so quickly. He was sick and tired of always being one step behind Bucky.

“Let’s hope not,” Bruce said. “I spoke to the officer who filed the report. She’s going to meet us at the station as soon as we roll into town.”

 

The police station was easy enough to find even in the rain that had been pouring for the last hour or so, the largest building on a street just off the main road, and as they pulled up outside a woman who looked to be in her early forties appeared in the doorway.

“Agents Stark and Banner?” she called, offering out an umbrella for them to duck under once they’d jogged the short distance from the curb. “Nice to make your acquaintance. It’s not often we get the feds in town. How was the drive?”

“Long,” Tony said while trying to stretch his aching muscles.

She led the way inside and gestured for them to take a seat at a desk in the corner of the room. Tony hesitated for a moment while Bruce shed his coat and sat down, debating whether keeping his own wet coat on and letting the rainwater soak through to his suit underneath was worth the slight warmth it offered. It was times like this he really missed California. He’d grown up in New York, yet his years on the West Coast had left him feeling particularly sensitive to the colder weather upon his return. He shrugged off his coat with a sigh and took the empty seat on Bruce’s left.

“So where was the car found?” he said.

“Just outside the industrial district about 10 miles west of here. We haven’t found anything noteworthy inside, but you’re welcome to search it yourselves if you like.”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Bruce said with a smile. “Have you had any reports of other cars stolen in the area?”

She thumbed through the folders on the desk, opening a couple to skim the contents before finding whatever relevant information she’d been searching for. “Only one,” she said. “Reported stolen at 2:40 this morning. It turned up about four hours ago. Kids joyriding, we suspect. Do you think this James Barnes is still in town?”

Tony nodded. “That’s the leading theory, unless we dig up something that suggests otherwise.”

“We’ve warned banks and local businesses to be extra vigilant of anything suspicious, though there’s not much more we can do to help you, I'm afraid. We’re trying to send out more patrols, but... cutbacks, you know.”

“Yeah, tell us about it.” He glanced over at Bruce. “That’s about all we can do tonight, then.”

“You’re right,” Bruce said and stood, slipping his coat back on while Tony did the same. He grimaced when the wet collar flipped up and slapped the back of his neck, sending cold water trickling down beneath his shirt, and fought the urge to shiver as they said their goodbyes and headed back to Tony’s car. Why did he request this transfer again?

At least the rain had eased off by now. Tony threw his overcoat onto the back seat and flopped into the front, loosening his tie while he waited for Bruce to get in. “They could have bought a car,” he said as they drove the few blocks between the station and the nearest hotel. “God knows they’ve stolen enough money to afford one.”

Bruce hummed in agreement. “We’ll check car dealerships tomorrow.”

Tony couldn’t wait. That was likely to be almost as much fun as interviewing witnesses. He loved the mental challenges of the job; trying to figure out what someone’s next move would be; finding patterns in seemingly unconnected crimes, but this part, the day-to-day tedium that went along with it, bored him to the brink of tears. His dad had always said he didn’t have the patience for it, though Tony was loathe to ever prove the man right. So he sucked it up and focused on the good he was doing instead. It had served him well enough so far.

“I'm gonna go and grab a drink,” he said once they’d checked into a room and he’d changed out of his rumpled suit into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. “There has to be a bar around here.”

“Are you sure you should?”

“Just one drink; I’ll be totally fine to drive. ‘Night, Bruce.” He left the room before Bruce could say anything else, his jacket slung over his shoulder and car keys in his hand before he’d even reached the lobby.

The hotel they were staying at was about five minutes from the main commercial district and, to Tony’s relief, he passed plenty of bars and restaurants as he worked his way through the streets. A club nestled beside a small cafe caught his eye and he pulled into the nearest parking space he could find. It was the only place that looked busy, the queue outside snaking around the street corner; a good enough place to have a drink or two and perhaps indulge in some shameless flirting while he was at it. Pretty tame compared to his nights out in his younger days.

It took a moment for him to adjust to the darkness and noise once he’d stepped through the main doors. The place was fairly modest, a bar area to the left and a long, thin dancefloor on the right with what looked like a small seating area atop the stairs Tony was leaning against. A gaggle of college-aged girls brushed past him, all clad in outfits highly unsuitable for the temperature outside, and Tony took a step back to avoid being flattened against the wall. Not one of them even noticed he was there.

He didn’t particularly want their attention, but it served as another sad reminder that this really wasn’t his scene anymore. Those moments seemed to be cropping up more and more often as his thirties slipped further away from him. He still felt like a 20-year-old at heart, though like it or not, he was slowly turning into one of those middle-aged guys unable to let go of their youth he’d once found so pathetic. Now all he needed was a drinking problem and chronic infidelity and he might as well change his name to Howard.

But apparently Tony wasn’t the only college graduate in the building. As he made his way to the bar a man sitting alone at one of the nearby tables caught his eye, but it wasn’t until Tony got closer that he realised why he recognised him. Dark hair, pale skin and cheekbones you could cut glass on... where had Tony seen that before?

He looked up then and met Tony’s eyes. “Can I help you?” British accent, it sounded like. It was definitely Bucky’s partner in crime Tony found himself face to face with.

Tony blinked. Shit, had he been staring? Mr Tall-dark-and-brooding was looking at him like he had. “Sorry, you just look kinda familiar is all.”

“I get that a lot.” He took another sip of his drink and glanced up at Tony again. “So are you going to sit down, or do you just enjoy making people uncomfortable?”

“You know, folks underestimate the joy there is to be found in making people uncomfortable,” replied Tony as he sat down on the empty stool at the table.

That raised a chuckle. “Loki,” he said, by way of introduction.

“Pretty name. Tony.” He offered his hand and Loki shook it once before reaching into the pocket of his dark blazer and pulling out a packet of cigarettes. I don’t think you’re allowed to smoke in here.”

Loki just shot him a look as he casually brought a cigarette to his thin lips and lit it. “Would you like one?” he said, the smoke curling around him giving him an almost dreamlike appearance.

“Trying to quit.”

“How’s that going for you?”

“Awful. Just awful. Thanks for asking.” Loki laughed again and flicked the ash from his cigarette into his empty glass. “Can I get you another?”

“Thank you.”

“So,” Tony said when he returned from the bar with their drinks a moment later, “you live around here?”

Loki nodded. “For now.”

“Far from home, aren’t you?”

“Not far enough.”

“Ooh, sounds like there’s a story there.” One that would hopefully shed some insight into how he’d ended up working with Bucky and what their master plan was. Though Tony wasn’t expecting miracles. It had been lucky enough that he’d happened to wander into the same club as Loki. That would probably cancel out any good fortune Tony and Bruce were likely to have on the rest of this case.

“A fascinating one,” Loki said.

“Aren’t they all?”

“So what about you?” He leant forward across the table as he spoke until his face was barely eight inches from Tony’s, the smell of smoke mingling with the rich, oriental scent of Loki’s cologne. “What’s your story?”

“Not nearly as interesting as yours, I'd imagine.”

Loki studied his face, eyes scanning him as if he could get inside Tony’s head just by staring hard enough. It kind of felt like he could. Hell, Tony was already having a drink with the man he was supposed to be arresting. Practically flirting with him, to boot.

“Let me guess... conflict with the parental figures?”

Tony scoffed in response. “That barely even counts as a guess,” he said before taking a swig of his beer, glancing around the room as he did so. He felt strangely exposed with Loki’s eyes on him.

“Unhappily married?”

“Happily unmarried.”

“But not satisfied.” Tony met Loki’s eyes at that, his drink hovering in front of his lips until he remembered himself and placed the bottle back on the table. A smirk tugged at the corner of Loki’s mouth as he watched Tony.

“What makes you say that?”

“I'm good at this game,” he said – though ‘purred’ may have been more accurate. Damn, that voice was seductive. No wonder Tony was feeling so flustered. This really wasn’t a good idea. He’d probably reveal exactly what he was doing in town with barely a prompt from Loki. “Besides, happily settled men over 35 don’t tend to frequent clubs like this, chatting up strangers, on a Wednesday night.”

Tony didn’t quite know what to say to that. Half-formed sentences floated to the forefront of his mind only to be discarded, but luckily it seemed he wouldn’t need to come up with a response. Loki’s eyes flicked across the room towards the entrance and lingered for a moment as he beamed. Tony followed his gaze and had to swallow down a gasp when he saw what Loki was looking at. Bucky was standing just inside the doors, sliding a leather jacket from his shoulders and looking over at the dancefloor, presumably scanning the crowd for Loki.

This had been a spectacularly good choice of club to visit.

“Excuse me,” Loki said as he slid off his stool and downed the contents of his glass. “Thank you for the drink, Tony.”

He flashed Tony one last charming smile and slipped away, moving through the crowd with ease. Well at least if the pair was here Tony and Bruce wouldn’t have to worry about another robbery tonight. Though any thoughts of work fell to the back of Tony’s mind once Loki caught up with Bucky.

Tony’s eyes widened as he watched Loki pull Bucky in for a deep kiss, one hand on his back pulling him against Loki’s body while the other brushed along Bucky’s cheekbone. _Oh_. That was... unexpected. He’d never imagined Loki and Bucky were a couple. And what a couple they were, kissing like they hadn’t seen each other in months, completely oblivious to the people around them. Tony couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed someone so fervently. Maybe he hadn’t. He’d had plenty of passionate encounters, sure, yet they were always fuelled entirely by lust, both Tony and whomever he’d fallen into bed with well aware that they’d never see each other after the morning. There was never any affection – or even real interest in anything but each other’s bodies – between them.

Bucky and Loki finally broke apart, their bodies still pressed together, and a wide grin stretched across Bucky’s face. He said something to Loki, something Tony couldn’t make out from his spot near the bar, and led Loki towards the dancefloor and out of Tony’s line of sight.

“Shit,” Tony muttered, grabbing his drink and stumbling off his stool to head after them. More people spilled in through the doors as Tony crossed the room and he stopped short to avoid a collision, a few drops of beer sloshing over his hand but he was barely aware of it. He’d been on Loki and Bucky’s trail for too long without success; letting them out of his sight now would be the stupidest thing Tony had ever done. And that was saying something.

He turned to his left and took the stairs two at a time to reach the seating area, pushing past a couple coming down without bothering to apologise. It was quiet upstairs, only one of the couches dotted about overlooking the dancefloor occupied, and Tony took the seat furthest from the stairs. He could see the entire dancefloor from the spot, though trying to catch sight of two dark-haired men in black clothes wasn’t going to be particularly easy. Tony scanned the crowd, eyes flicking over every inch of the room below, his grip tightening on the neck of his bottle until he had to put it down. He didn’t bother to look to make sure it had actually landed on the nearby coffee table.

Had he lost them just in the time it had taken to climb the stairs? If they’d slipped back into the throng Tony had been stuck behind they could have passed by without his noticing. And the night was still young; if Loki and Bucky had decided to leave, chances are they had other things on their minds than heading home.

Finally Tony caught sight of them and the tension that had been steadily building in his body evaporated. They were nestled between a few larger groups, their bodies so close together they didn’t look like two separate people at first. Tony stood and leant against the railing to get a closer view, lest he lose them again in the crowd, but luckily it didn’t look like he’d have to worry about them leaving any time soon. He could see the grins on their faces every time the lights caught them and they moved against each other in time to the pulsating music. It looked more like they were mating than dancing – a mood that had seemed to settle over many of the other patrons as well.

A smile worked its way to Tony’s face. He remembered those days all too well.

Though his own increasingly depressing existence wasn’t his main concern tonight, and Tony kept a watchful eye on the pair as they danced. They certainly weren’t lacking in energy. They must have been moving without pause for at least an hour before Bucky disappeared, returning a few minutes later with a couple of drinks, before the pair was gyrating again and growing ever closer as the night wore on.

The dancefloor was slowly emptying when Tony noticed Loki lean down to Bucky’s ear, though he couldn’t tell if Loki was saying something or nibbling it. Neither would have surprised him. Whatever Loki had done prompted Bucky to grab his hand and lead him back towards the exit and Tony was on his feet in an instant. By the time he was halfway down the stairs Bucky was just slipping through the main doors behind Loki, sliding his jacket back on as they left, and Tony rushed to his car to follow them.

Loki and Bucky hadn’t parked much further down the road than Tony had, and their car was sure to make them stand out as Tony trailed behind them, keeping a few other cars between them as much as he could on their journey. He couldn’t recognise the model at this distance, but it was old, it was expensive, and it was a hell of a lot flashier than the last car they stole. He had to admire their taste.

Tony followed their car for at least 40 minutes, dropping back further once the other cars disappeared as they drove further from the heart of town, until he rounded a corner along a long, wooded stretch of road to find their car was no longer in front of him.

“Shit,” he said to himself. He hadn’t come this far just to lose them now.

He slowed right down, scouring every darkened gap in the tree line in search of tail lights, and with a sigh of relief he spotted some after a few long seconds. He was sure to be seen if he headed straight after them, so he hung back until he could only see faint red specks before turning off the main road and parking about 10 feet into the gravel driveway.

It was only as Tony crept through the trees towards the house nestled within them that he realised he had no idea what his next move was. Bust in there and arrest them? With no guns, handcuffs or backup that was sure to end well for Tony. The smartest option would be to head back to the hotel and return with Bruce first thing in the morning. But Tony didn’t turn back, because at that moment he caught sight of Loki and Bucky.

He’d found himself crouching in the bushes no more than 20 feet from the house’s master bedroom, staring through the floor-to-ceiling windows as Loki and Bucky approached the bed still kissing just as hungrily as they had been in the club – if not more so. Their jackets had been discarded and Bucky’s t-shirt was next to go, revealing a tanned and muscled torso that left Tony feeling somewhat inadequate.

At least, Tony hoped it was jealousy he was feeling. He was a man of the world; he’d experimented plenty in his wilder days, though he’d thought that was long behind him, dismissed it as a phase and never thought of any man he met in the same way again. Yet from the way his eyes were glued to the pair making out inside, that assessment may have been premature.

His gaze followed Loki’s hand down Bucky’s body to the obvious bulge in Bucky’s jeans and his breath caught in his throat. There was only one way this was going to play out. He couldn’t just stand there and watch, could he? There was no possible reason for Tony to stay, indulging whatever sick fetishes he was quickly discovering he had. He needed to return to town. Bucky and Loki clearly wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Yet still Tony stayed rooted in place.

Tony’s mouth was bone dry by the time they were both naked and Loki was climbing onto all fours on the edge of the bed, biting his bottom lip in anticipation as Bucky positioned himself behind him. Tony didn’t feel much different himself. His cock twitched when Bucky pushed inside Loki, blood pumping enough to echo through his ears and drown out the lingering thought in the back of his mind of how disgusted he’d feel with himself in the morning.

If Loki and Bucky had looked good dancing together earlier in the evening, it was nothing compared to how they moved against each other now; their bodies repeating well-practised steps, hands knowing exactly how and where to touch one another, faces contorting in ecstasy. Tony had never seen anything quite like it. Hell, he didn’t think he’d ever seen one of his own sexual partners enjoying themselves so much, and Tony was hardly unpractised in that area.

The sight of the pair was almost too much to take in. From Bucky’s muscles tensing and relaxing with each thrust, to his hands grazing along Loki’s firm sides and their hips grinding against each other, Tony didn’t know where to look, though his eyes finally settled on Loki’s face as he glanced back at Bucky with a grin. It was just as well he did, or else he wouldn’t have noticed when Loki’s gaze passed Tony’s spot outside.

His heart seized in his chest, panic flooding his system as he moved behind the tree just to his left and prayed Loki hadn’t seen him. It was far brighter inside, the moonlight not even piercing the tree cover in this area at the side of the house, so hopefully Tony had managed to hide himself before Loki could see him. But was it worth risking exposure again to check?

With baited breath Tony peeked out from behind the tree. Loki and Bucky were still completely absorbed in each other, Loki up on his knees resting back against Bucky’s chest while his hand slid into Bucky’s messy hair to pull him in for a kiss.

Jesus, that was close.

His eyes stayed on the scene playing out inside, as Bucky reached down to wrap his hand around Loki’s erection and Loki’s grip tightened in his hair in response. Tony had never learnt his lessons well, and now was not the time to try.

After another minute or two Bucky cried out, loud enough for Tony to hear outside, before burying his face against Loki’s neck as he gave a few more thrusts, his hand moving faster on Loki’s dick until he reached his orgasm as well. They pulled away from each other and Bucky disappeared down a darkened corridor, leaving Loki to stretch his long arms above his head, toned muscles rippling under his skin, and clean himself off with a towel while Tony drank in the last glimpse he was likely to get of that fantastic body.

He waited until the pair had climbed into bed and settled down to go to sleep before daring to move from his spot, creeping back to his car as quietly as he could manage – a feat that was easier said than done with his legs shaking the way they were. It was only once he was safely back inside his car that he began to relax and his heart rate finally slowed.

“Fuck,” he breathed.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony scrubbed his flushed cheeks after he let out a long sigh. His hands were probably filthy from spending so long in the bushes, but that was the last thing on his mind at that moment. He had just crossed so many lines, yet even now whenever he closed his eyes all he could see was Bucky and Loki writhing against each other.

“Fuck,” he said again. He could do with a smoke. Hands shaking, he fumbled with the catch to open the glove compartment and rooted through the contents until he dug out a packet of nicotine patches that had been in there for God knows how long. It wouldn’t be enough to curb his cravings – and did nicotine patches have a shelf life? Tony wasn’t quite functioning well enough to check the box for a use-by date – but it had to be better than nothing. At the very least it might help him focus enough to drive back to the hotel.

Shit, Bruce. Tony checked the time on his phone, ignoring the few missed calls he had for the moment; it was almost 2am. He’d told Bruce he was going for one drink nearly five hours ago. Though there was nothing he could do about it now besides gun the engine and try to get back as quickly as he could.

Bruce was asleep when Tony crept back into their room some half-hour or so later. That worked out well for Tony; he didn’t particularly want to discuss what he’d been up to until he could think of a convincing lie. He ducked into the adjoining bathroom to clean away the evidence of his late-night adventure and slipped into bed, though his mind was racing too much for him to get any sleep.

 

“What time did you get in?” Bruce said as he got up to go to the bathroom that morning. Tony was already sitting up in bed, drumming his fingers restlessly against the mattress and hoping beyond hope there was nothing in his demeanour that would stand out as off as he looked over at Bruce.

“Kinda late, I guess.”

“Did you speak to Pepper?”

“Uh, yeah.” As excuses go, that seemed plausible enough. “We sorta got into it; took longer than I expected to, you know, talk it all out.”

Bruce nodded and disappeared through the doorway. As soon as Tony heard the shower running he let out the sigh he’d been holding and slumped forward to rest his forehead in his hands. He hadn’t had any sleep, spending the few hours he’d been back contemplating what exactly he was going to say to Bruce. Not that he’d managed to come to any decisions about that. He needed to tell him where Loki and Bucky were camped out, at the very least – they could have the pair in custody by the end of the day if he did – yet how could he disclose that information without raising the question of why he didn’t call Bruce as soon as he found them?

He was still wrestling with his choices as he and Bruce spent the morning visiting car dealerships in the area. He didn’t listen to a word that was said, already painfully aware that their search would be pointless, yet the longer he went without speaking up the worse it would sound if he did come clean. This was such a mess.

“Are you okay?”

Tony’s head snapped up to see Bruce watching him curiously, his cup of tea poised at his lips as he waited for Tony’s response. They were sat in some cheap diner in the heart of town, vinyl squeaking beneath them every time they shifted in their seats, waiting for the grey clouds overhead to clear while they pondered their next move.

Tony gazed back down at his untouched plate of food and shrugged. “I'm just tired.”

“Drink up, then,” Bruce said, pushing Tony’s coffee mug closer towards him. “I doubt we’ll be having a nice early night tonight.”

“What are you thinking?”

“If they haven’t stolen a car and there’s no evidence of them buying a new one, then they’re probably still in town.”

“And probably planning something,” added Tony. “So we’re on stakeout duty until we know, one way or another, if they’ve cleared out?”

“That’s what I'm thinking. I’ll call the precinct to see if they’re running any patrols the next few nights – do you want to talk to Fury; check if there’s any new information on his end?”

“Sure thing.”

He sighed as he slid from the booth to a quieter corner of the room to make the call. This was going to be a long few nights.

***

Now this was more like it. Loki glanced around the large sitting room, tastefully decorated in cream and gold with a sense of luxury throughout. It felt a lot like home, actually, though with none of the negativity Loki had grown to associate with the place.

Bucky whistled as he stepped through the doorway behind Loki. “Man, honeymoon suites are nice,” he said. “I can’t believe this is the first time I've been in one.”

“I think a general prerequisite is that you’re a newlywed.”

Bucky looked to be considering that while he tossed his duffel bag down and threw himself onto the enormous bed through the open French doors. “In that case, I might have to go and get married after we’re done here. Maybe if you’re lucky you can wrangle an invitation.”

“Please; you’ll never find anyone better than me.” Setting his own bag down at the foot of the bed, Loki continued exploring the suite, poking his head into the bathroom before making his way to the balcony doors on the other side of the bed. The view was nothing spectacular, mostly other buildings with a few glimpses of the ocean between, but the weather was a definite improvement.

“I guess not,” Bucky said with a sigh. “You and I will have to elope, then.”

Loki chuckled and glanced back at him just to make sure he was really joking. He’d never really given much thought to the future of their relationship. He knew he wanted to be with Bucky, though he wasn’t quite ready for a serious discussion about their future. Luckily the crooked grin on Bucky’s face suggested that was a conversation for another day.

“We wouldn’t have any guests to begin with; what difference would eloping make?”

“Okay, so we plan a wedding, invite your family and then we elope.” Loki’s smile faded at the mention of his family. The change in atmosphere must have been palpable, for Bucky came to stand behind Loki and wrapped his arms around him. “Do they know where you are?”

“I doubt it.”

Bucky paused, his chin resting on Loki’s shoulder. “Must be rough,” he said after a moment.

“Not particularly,” replied Loki before twisting in Bucky’s arms to meet his eyes. “Dying to meet them, are we?”

“D’you think they’d like me?”

It was almost tempting to find out. Loki could just picture the reactions if he turned up on the doorstep after all this time, Bucky in tow. As far as he knew, his family was still blissfully unaware of his sexuality; that would just be the cherry on top of an undoubtedly explosive reunion.

“My mother would.”

“She must be a smart woman.” With a playful slap to his behind, Bucky slipped away from Loki to sink once again into the plush bedcovers, his dark hair and tanned skin standing out in stark contrast to the white sheets. He kicked his heavy boots off and they landed on the rug with a dull thud.

“I wouldn’t say so; she likes everyone.” The corner of Bucky’s mouth twitched upwards – a far more subtle reaction than usual – and his eyelids slid closed. “Don’t fall asleep. We still have work to do.”

“Aw, come on, Loki,” Bucky said as he continued to make himself comfortable, “we’ve been driving for almost two days. It can wait until morning.”

His arm thrust out towards Loki, and after considering it for a moment, Loki stepped forward to take Bucky’s hand and let him pull Loki down onto the mattress beside him.

***

A firm hand shook Tony awake and he groaned in response, squeezing his eyes shut tighter in a futile attempt to return to sleep. “Come on, Tony,” Bruce said. He sounded as tired as Tony felt.

“We shouldn’t have to work on Sundays.”

He heard a vague mumble of what was probably agreement coming from Bruce and grudgingly sat up in bed, rubbing at his eyes with the balls of his hands. He didn’t want to know how many hours of sleep he’d managed to get. They’d been sat in his freezing cold car until 4am, at which point they’d finally decided Loki and Bucky weren’t going to make an appearance.

“Think of it this way: if we get up and head out today, maybe we can head home a day earlier.”

“Or maybe we can spend the day with our thumbs up our asses like we’ve been doing all week.” Of course, if Tony had just told Bruce he’d found the pair they could have been home days ago, though he wasn’t going to point that out now.

“Yeah,” Bruce sighed, snapping Tony out of his thoughts before he could sink too far into that quagmire. “Honestly, I don’t know how long we can stay here getting nowhere.”

Silence stretched on between them, though as much as he wanted to, Tony didn’t know what to say to break it. Instead he pushed himself out of bed and rooted through the chest of drawers for whatever clean clothes he had left, but before he could cross the room to the bathroom, his phone buzzed on the nightstand.

“You’re not going to get that?” said Bruce, as Tony carried on towards the door.

“It’s probably just Pepper.” And he certainly wasn’t prepared to deal with that mess right now.

Bruce stretched backwards across his own bed to read the LED display. “It’s James Rhodes.”

The bundle of clothes in Tony’s arms tumbled to the bed as he snatched up his phone. “Hey, Rhodey,” he said, “what’s up?”

“Hi,” a tinny voice sounded on the other end of the line. It was a wonder Tony could hear him at all, with the crappy reception. God, did he want to get back to New York. He’d even be happy to deal with the inevitable shitstorm when he finally spoke to Pepper again if he could go to sleep in his own bed afterwards. “You still working the James Barnes case?”

“To my eternal joy and appreciation.”

“Well appreciate this: I think I've got something for you.”


	5. Chapter 5

Rhodey was standing to attention when Tony and Bruce approached him, his gaze cast off to the side and sunglasses perched atop his head. As soon as he caught sight of them he unfolded his arms just in time to be pulled in for a hug. Tony wasn’t sure he’d ever been so happy to see anyone.

“Bruce Banner?” Rhodey said once Tony had finally released him and he offered his hand out to Bruce. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.”

“Managing to stay sane working with Tony every day?”

“Hey, I'm right here, you know.”

Rhodey just chuckled in response and lead the way out of the airport. Tony paused once they stepped through the main doors, shielding his eyes for a moment while he adjusted to the light before looking up at the cloudless blue sky with a grin. It was good to be back.

“So you gonna fill us in?” he said as they approached Rhodey’s car, rolling up his shirt sleeves while Rhodey unlocked the doors and deposited their bags in the back. Within seconds he could feel the warmth on his skin. Maybe he’d even get a tan while they were out here.

“Bank robbery, around 4:30 this morning. We still don’t know how much was taken, though I'm going to go with my gut and say ‘a lot’. We did manage to get a picture of the suspects on CCTV.” He pulled a smartphone from his pocket and scrolled through the pictures until he found what he was looking for, handing the phone to Tony so he could study the pair on the screen. “One of them looks like this Barnes guy you’re after; he’s a little worse for wear, but it’s definitely him.”

“Pretty sloppy, getting caught on camera again.”

“That’s part of the appeal, isn’t it?” Bruce piped up from the backseat as he took the phone from Tony to look at the image. “Notoriety.”

They pulled out into the traffic outside LAX, heading in the direction of Malibu, and Tony’s stomach gave a low grumble. They’d packed up and got on a flight as soon as they could after Rhodey’s call that morning, and in the upheaval they’d barely had time to stop and eat anything. He pressed a hand to his gut to try and massage away the hunger pangs.

“That’s not all,” Rhodey continued. “Before you guys touched down I got a call about a tip; apparently they checked into a hotel after their bout of grand larceny. We’re keeping an eye on the place, though I figured since this is your case you two would want to be the first ones in there.”

“You were right,” replied Tony.

This was perfect. If they could catch Bucky and Loki here in Malibu there’d be no need for news of Tony’s unsavoury activities to come to light, he could continue to look his co-workers in the eye and hopefully the memories of Loki and Bucky’s bedroom antics would fade from his mind. Though he had a feeling that last part wasn’t likely to happen any time soon.

“Hey, can we grab some food on the way? I'm starving.”

“Are you kidding? I just got the stench of hamburger out of this car and you want to stink it back up again?”

“You know you’ve missed me, Rhodes.”

 

They pulled up just outside a grand, Italian Renaissance-style hotel and Tony crumpled up the empty wrapper of his burger, sucking his fingers clean as they climbed out of the car. He followed Rhodey across the street towards another car, keeping his eyes on the hotel as if he could see Bucky and Loki through the windows, and as they approached a man Tony vaguely recognised rolled down the driver’s side window.

“Anything?” Rhodey said.

“No-one’s left the building, and there’s been no word from the staff; they haven’t checked out early.”

“Thanks, man. Stand by in case we need you.” He turned back to Tony and Bruce. “You two ready?”

A curt nod from the pair and they were on their way inside. None of them said a word as they headed towards the hotel’s honeymoon suite. There was nothing to be said that could ease the tension growing with each step.

In a few minutes this could all be over. No more racing back and forth across the country, no more sitting around useless waiting for their luck to change, no more morally questionable decisions on Tony’s part. Though he pushed those thoughts away when they reached the door to the suite. He had to focus on the present before getting caught up in what would happen after they apprehended Loki and Bucky.

His fingers tightened around his gun as they waited with baited breath outside the door. There were no sounds coming from within. Rhodey glanced from Tony to Bruce, wordlessly making sure they were ready, and held up three fingers...

Two...

One.

The door slammed open with a bang, bouncing back off the wall as Tony and Bruce charged inside ahead of Rhodey, guns raised. Silence. Tony’s eyes darted across the oversized room while Bruce and Rhodey slipped through a doorway to his right; the bedroom and en-suite, presumably. Aside from a light breeze ruffling the curtains, the main room was still.

The other room was equally quiet, which only added to Tony’s anxiety. There was no way Bucky and Loki would come quietly. If there were no sounds of a disturbance, that could only mean one thing.

Tony’s suspicions were confirmed a moment later when Bruce and Rhodey reappeared, empty handed and wearing matching expressions of disappointment.

This couldn’t be happening. They’d had Loki and Bucky in their grasp – Tony couldn’t fathom how they could be standing in an empty suite instead of arresting the pair. He barely even listened as Rhodey contacted his colleague waiting outside, too busy scouring every inch of the room like he’d suddenly find Loki and Bucky hiding behind one of the couches or something.

That was when his eyes fell on the dining table, a piece of paper folded atop the polished wood. Bruce followed his gaze and crossed the room to snatch up the note. After a string of expletives, he handed the slip of paper to Tony.

 _‘Better luck next time.’_ Fuck.

“So they know we’re after them,” he managed. He wasn’t sure what else there was he could say, unless he followed Bruce’s example and let loose with a blue streak. It was fairly tempting, actually.

“Oh, of course they know,” said Bruce, his usually calm demeanour long gone, and Tony took a cautious step back. He’d only ever seen Bruce truly angry once before and he wasn’t keen to relive the experience. “Bucky was one of us; he knows how we work, he knows what we’re going to do before we even do it. No wonder we’re always one step behind these guys.”

“We’re back to square one, then,” Tony said. “We have no idea where they are.”

***

Wind roared around Bucky’s ears as he pushed his foot down harder on the gas pedal and he let out a triumphant cry to rival the sound. He never felt more alive than in these moments. He turned the stereo’s volume dial up as far as it would go, the bassline throbbing through his entire body, and glanced over at Loki sitting beside him.

“Eyes on the road, James,” said Loki, though he met Bucky’s eyes with a grin to match the one stretching across Bucky’s own face, sunlight glinting off his teeth as he couldn’t hold in his laugh any longer. The sound was lost to the wind.

Bucky did as he was told, gazing back at the dirt landscape that stretched on before them as far as the eye could see, but there was only so long he could stare at nothing in particular before his eyes drifted back to Loki. He’d reached into the backseat for one of the three black duffel bags perched on the supple leather and was somehow managing to wrestle the zipper open with one hand while the other brought his cigarette to his lips for a long drag, smoke billowing out behind their car along with the clouds of dust they kicked up in their wake.

“How do you expect to count that without it getting blown away?” Bucky said when Loki pulled a stack of notes from the bag.

“It’s a long drive; what else am I supposed to do? Besides,” he added, “you could always put the top up.”

“We’re driving down a deserted stretch of California highway, in a beautiful fucking car with weather like this, and you want to put the top up?” He shook his head. He would never understand Loki sometimes.

“Fine.” Loki tossed the money back and returned the duffel to its place beside the others, before sinking down low enough in his seat to lay his head atop the backrest, his feet propped up on the dashboard. Bucky’s knuckles tightened on the steering wheel as he watched Loki make himself comfortable. This car was older than both of them combined; to treat it with anything less than the reverence it deserved was... something Loki would naturally do.

But Bucky left him to it and as soon as he’d flicked away the butt of his cigarette Loki was restless again. From the corner of his eye Bucky saw Loki push himself back up, and a moment later a delicate hand reached into Bucky’s lap.

“Fuck,” he gasped, jolting as Loki’s hand found his dick through his battered pair of black jeans. “What are you doing?”

“I have to entertain myself somehow, don’t I?”

He massaged Bucky, his movements quickly gaining intensity as Bucky’s body responded with enthusiasm. He wasn't exactly the most experienced person out there – though he and Loki had been doing their best to make up for that in the time they'd been together – yet he knew there was something special to Loki’s caress, something that made Bucky yearn for him constantly, regardless of how long it had been since they’d last touched. He was almost too afraid to ask Loki how many people he’d slept with to become such a talented lover.

“Eyes open, Bucky,” Loki said. How he even knew Bucky’s eyelids had slid closed behind his sunglasses was beyond him, but he focused back on the road – as much as he could with Loki unzipping his jeans and reaching into his boxer shorts. Cold air hit Bucky’s cock when Loki pulled it out into the light of day and Bucky tensed at the sudden change of temperature, though he was quickly warmed again when Loki leant down and took Bucky into his mouth.

His own mouth dropped open in a silent moan as Loki engulfed him, heat and wetness spreading further along his length as another inch disappeared beyond Loki’s lips. The sight of Bucky’s dick sliding inside Loki made his heart race faster, blood screaming in his ears almost as loud as the wind and music already threatening to deafen him. It’d be a good way to lose his hearing, though the thought of every one of Loki’s future moans and cries of pleasure that he’d miss made Bucky ease off the accelerator. He was too distracted to really focus on his driving anyway.

One hand slid from the steering wheel and into Loki’s sun-warmed hair. Bucky’s breaths were coming out harsher now, his hips moving of their own accord desperately chasing the sensation of Loki’s mouth around him until it was gone. He looked down to see Loki gazing up at him; lips red, mouth hanging slack and a fire burning in his eyes, and Bucky’s fingers tightened in Loki’s hair to pull him up.

As if their very lives depended on it, their mouths crashed together, noses crushed against cheeks as their tongues slid against each other, the pair fuelled onwards by whatever air they could gulp down whenever their lips parted. Bucky’s eyes flicked back to the road every second or two, yet even if something had been approaching in the opposite lane it was doubtful he’d be able to react in time. He was lost in Loki – in fact, it felt like he had been for quite some time. But Bucky would sooner die than change that.

Leaving his cock exposed to the air was steadily chasing away the heat in Bucky’s groin as he and Loki continued their kiss, until thankfully Loki’s hand wrapped around it before he pulled away from Bucky’s lips. This time there was no teasing. After one quick flick of his tongue across the head of Bucky’s cock Loki was all business. He hollowed his cheeks and sucked, exactly the way Bucky liked it, and Bucky’s eyes squeezed shut for the briefest of moments. It was becoming increasingly difficult to remember he was still driving with his orgasm building within him.

“Oh God, Loki,” he gasped, knuckles turning white on the steering wheel, as he spilled into Loki’s mouth.

His body shivering from the adrenaline coursing through his veins, Bucky laughed, harder than he had for a long time. It was infectious. Bucky glanced over at Loki sprawled in his seat, his erection straining under the fabric of his pants, to see him chuckling as well while he wiped his mouth. He was still grinning when he looked up to meet Bucky’s gaze.

“You want to help me out here?” Bucky nodded down at his crotch as he spoke, his jeans still open and letting the cold seep into his skin. He didn’t often feel the cold, having spent almost the entirety of his life in the Northeast, but then he didn’t often drive around in convertibles at top speed with his dick out, either.

“It’s a good look for you,” Loki said. He took the wheel, though, still slumped low in his seat and not making even the slightest attempt to look through the windshield, and Bucky tucked himself away.

He pressed his foot down harder once he’d taken the wheel again and another exultant laugh escaped into the air as their car charged onwards.


	6. Chapter 6

The hotel suite was swarming with FBI agents, many of them Tony’s former colleagues, though he did spot one or two new faces in the bustle of activity. He slumped back against the wall furthest from the group, his arms folded across his chest and bottom lip clenched between his teeth as he watched them work.

This was pointless. There was nothing here to be found; if Bucky and Loki were good enough to know the feds were coming for them, no way would they be so careless to leave some clue as to where they were heading next. And in one fell swoop, all the progress Tony and Bruce had made over the last few weeks was worth nothing. He could kick something. He could kick himself. He was the one who’d taken them back to square one by not revealing Bucky and Loki’s location when he had the chance. Idiot.

“I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that scowl.”

Tony looked up to see Rhodey approaching him, slipping his jacket back on and digging his car keys from his pocket. “Come on; let’s get out of here. The others can finish up without us.” They weaved their way towards to door where Bruce was waiting for them. “You two can sleep at my place tonight. Unless you’re planning to swing by your parents’ while you’re in town,” Rhodey said, glancing back at Tony.

“The hell would I want to do that for?”

He chuckled in response and they headed back to his car in silence. It was only once they were all seated and Rhodey had switched the engine on that he spoke again. “You guys should head home,” he said. “There’s nothing else you can do here.”

Tony nodded and gazed out of the window as they made their way to Rhodey’s house in Thousand Oaks. The sun had long since set, though Tony couldn’t see any stars as he looked up towards the sky. He never usually cared much, his attention too focused on what was immediately in front of him, but the last thing he wanted to do during their drive was think about the case.

He sighed and tore his eyes away from the landscape zipping past his window. Rhodey’s attention was focused on the road, as it always was, not even listening to the radio providing the only quiet sounds within the car, while Bruce had his smartphone in hand, the little frown he always got when he was concentrating in place across his brows.

“There’s a flight back to New York at 7:45 tomorrow morning,” he announced after a moment.

“We still need to pick up my car.” Not that Tony was particularly looking forward to the 10-hour drive back home that would be facing him after their flight. He let his head fall back against the headrest as a frown of his own creased his forehead.

“Right.” Another few minutes of tapping and scrolling and Bruce broke the silence once more. “2pm.”

“Sounds good. Book it.”

“Our hotel room’s still booked until Tuesday,” said Bruce, “so we can at least get some sleep before the drive back.”

That was a small mercy. Tony felt about ready to sleep for a week. And if it meant he could go a week without having to think about the last few days, that was just a bonus.

The rest of the drive passed without a word, until they turned into Rhodey’s street and approached his home. It hadn’t changed at all since Tony had last seen it – a fresh coat of paint on the stucco walls and garage door, perhaps, but otherwise it was the same old house.

It was too early to sleep, especially for the almost-nocturnal Tony, yet there was nothing any of them felt like doing, no topic of conversation that would distract them from the day they’d had, so instead Rhodey pointed Bruce to the spare bedroom and set up the sofa bed for Tony before the three of them said goodnight.

“We meet again,” Tony said as he stared down at the lumpy mattress. It had often fallen to Rhodey, as the most responsible among their group of friends, to take care of everyone after Tony planned a night of bad decision-making and far too much alcohol, and as a result Tony had spent many a night on the sofa bed, usually dumped on it unceremoniously after he’d passed out. That seemed preferable to the circumstances under which he now found himself trying to get comfortable on the mattress, the metal frame squeaking loudly at his every movement.

How he missed the days when all he had to worry about was a nasty hangover in the morning.

 

The sound of the front door squeaking closed roused Tony the next morning, followed by Rhodey’s car roaring to life and backing out of the driveway. He was amazed he’d actually managed to sleep a little. For hours he lay watching faint strips of light move across the living room ceiling whenever a car would drive past the house, Bucky and Loki haunting his thoughts, until finally he must have slipped into a dreamless sleep. He rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn, stretching his stiff muscles as he pushed himself to his feet and shuffled into the kitchen. There was a note from Rhodey stuck to the coffee machine:

‘ _Gone to work for a few hours. I’ll be back in time to drop you two at the airport._

_Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge & there are plenty of towels in the bathroom if you want to take a shower._

_See you later._ ’

The bottom step of the staircase creaked out in the hallway as Tony pushed the note aside, and Bruce appeared in the kitchen doorway a moment later. “Morning,” he said with a tired smile. He apparently hadn’t slept much better than Tony.

They settled down to eat breakfast and each took a shower before enjoying the first few hours of free time they’d had in what felt like an age, though for all Tony had been desperate for a break, he didn’t know what to do with himself now he had some time to kill. Of course, being in someone else’s house didn’t really help. Tony was hardly unfamiliar with the place, yet it wasn’t the same as being surrounded by the comforts of home. He sprawled out on the couch, aimlessly flicking through TV channels without really taking in what he was seeing, after having unsuccessfully searched the bookshelves for something worth reading. Maybe he should go and see his parents.

He dismissed that idea as quickly as it came to him. He’d rather be bored. Besides, they were probably off on another one of their exotic vacations, demonstrating with practised ease how the other half lived while continuing their desperate endeavour to drink until they could stomach each other’s company. Tony still wasn’t sure if they’d actually managed it yet.

“So where do we stand now?” Bruce said as he came to sit in the chair opposite Tony.

“I guess all we can do is head home and wait for Bucky and Loki to crop up again.” He doubted that would take long. They seemed to live for the attention, after all.

A frown flitted across Bruce’s face. “Loki?”

Shit.

Tony shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant gesture, despite the panic flooding his system. “God of mischief. I dunno, it seemed kinda fitting, and since we don’t know who this other guy is...” Or since Bruce didn’t.

“I'm not sure murdering people is considered mischievous behaviour.”

“Right,” Tony said, gazing through the front window to avoid Bruce’s eye.

Luckily Rhodey’s car pulled up before Bruce could say anything else. “Hey,” he said as he stepped through the front door. “You two ready to get out of here?”

God, was he. Tony couldn’t have climbed into the car fast enough.

“We didn’t find anything in the hotel suite,” Rhodey announced as they sped along the relatively quiet interstate on their way to LAX. “Not sure any of us expected to, really. These guys are good.”

“Yeah, don’t we know it.”

Rhodey smirked in response. “Any information crops up on this end, it’s yours, no hesitation. For now, take a break, both of you. You look like you need it.”

If only the chance of getting it wasn’t so slim. They said their goodbyes and parted ways, hopefully not for quite as long as the last time Tony left the West Coast, though given the workload he was buried under, he had about as much chance of returning for a proper visit sometime soon as he did of getting some rest once they were back in New York.

 

A relieved smile spread across Tony’s face as he climbed the steps to his apartment building. It was so good to be home. He flopped against the wall while he waited for the elevator, his body aching after the long drive, and revelled in the first stretch of solitude he’d had in over a week. He loved Bruce, no question, but Tony just needed some time to himself occasionally – and especially now he was a terrible liar harbouring a secret. If he’d had to spend any more time in close quarters with Bruce, something would have undoubtedly given him away.

His bag hit the floor with a thud the second Tony stepped into his apartment, his jacket following as he crossed into the kitchen area. Please let there still be beer in the fridge...

“Oh, thank God,” he said to himself, wrapping his fingers around one of the two cold bottles standing inside the door. He tossed the bottle cap onto the counter island, barely paying attention as it skidded across the surface and onto the floor, and sank down onto the couch to take a long drink.

It was a depressing sight, his apartment; the only decorative items to be seen the handful of awards from his childhood resting on top of the odd surface, boxes stacked in the corner of the room full of things he still hadn’t found a place for in the two-and-a-half years since he’d moved in, and the less said about Tony’s housekeeping skills the better. Really it was just a place for him to stop when he wasn’t at work or out in the city, and it served that purpose well enough.

But tonight it felt even less like home than usual.

His fingers drummed on the armrest of the couch while he finished his drink, the sound of his heel bouncing up and down on the wood floor driving him to distraction, yet he couldn’t stop his restless fidgeting. He’d been exhausted as he made his way to the apartment, but now he was here the last thing he felt like doing was sleeping.

As soon as the last drop of cold liquid trickled down his throat Tony was up, retrieving his jacket from the floor and striding out into the hallway before his discarded bottle had even come to a standstill on the kitchen counter.

Tony had no idea what he was doing. He drove all night, stopping only for more and more coffee, and just as the sun was breaking through the clouds he turned down a familiar tree-lined road. It looked far less sinister in the early morning light than it had upon Tony’s last visit, though he was too focused on searching for the right turn-off to appreciate the beauty of the area. Part of him was surprised he’d made it this far; he’d expected his brain to articulate at least some of the many reasons this was a stupid idea during the drive. But none had fully formed, and the partial thoughts lingering in the back of his mind hadn’t proved compelling enough for him to turn back.

He didn’t bother parking back from the house this time, instead continuing down the gravel drive and leaving his car in the clearing no more than 15 feet from the windows looking into the main room. If they’d spotted Tony, he’d probably have already been dead by now, but he didn’t see any signs of life inside as he approached the front door.

Hands shaking, whether from nerves or the amount of caffeine in his system Tony didn’t know, he closed his fingers around the door handle. The door wasn’t locked.

A faint smell of coffee greeted Tony as he stepped inside. So it seemed they hadn’t abandoned the place – though Tony wasn’t sure if he should be pleased about that. He still had no idea if he’d rather have driven all this way to find the house empty or to confront a pair of dangerous criminals; all he knew was that he had to do something.

His gaze fell on the sideboard against the wall to his left once he’d finished giving the room a quick once-over and he leafed through the few envelopes tossed on the oak surface, all addressed to a K. Yoshida. Tony didn’t need to guess where he was now. That thought really should have made him more concerned about sneaking into Bucky and Loki’s hideout, yet instead of turning tail he stepped further into the room. He stopped short once he’d rounded the plush couch and his eyes had fallen on the two black duffel bags abandoned on the floor.

Tony crouched and zipped open the nearest bag.

It was filled with stacks of notes, as Tony had expected, yet his eyes still widened as he gazed down at the contents. From what he could see it was almost all $100 and $50 bills. He had to be staring down at well over a million dollars, and there was no doubt in his mind the other bag contained the same.

A heavy thud sounded behind him before Tony could reach over to open it. He spun around, whipping his gun out as he turned, and found himself face to face with Bucky, his own gun pointed at Tony and another identical bag at his feet.

“Mr. Yoshida, I take it?” Tony said as he stood, his eyes and gun never leaving Bucky.

“Yeah. I was adopted.” Bucky stepped further into the room in long, slow strides as Tony moved back to keep the distance between them. “So what can I do for you, Special Agent Tony Stark?”

“How do you know who I am?”

“We do our homework.”

Did that mean Loki had known who Tony was throughout their entire conversation at the bar? They must have known Tony would be watching them if that were the case; surely they wouldn’t have been so careless to lead Tony back to their home. But now wasn’t the time to give that much thought.

“Where’s Loki?” he said.

“I'm not his mother.” So not at home then, judging by Bucky’s choice of words. That was a relief. Tony had had a sneaking suspicion Loki would appear behind him at any moment, before the pair sent Tony off to join the house’s previous owner. “You’re not here to arrest us.”

“You sound confident.”

“No handcuffs, no backup... You wouldn’t be stupid enough to come here on your own. So that begs the question,” Bucky said, lowering his gun as he spoke while Tony did the same, “why are you here? Curiosity get the better of you?”

“Something like that.”

A smirk grew across Bucky’s face as he looked Tony up and down. “Well you’ve got the look: rumpled suit, unshaven, bags under the eyes. When was the last time you had a full night’s sleep? Long enough ago to make all that money look real tempting, huh?”

“So that’s it? You turned your back on your friends, your career, and decided living like this was the way to go, all because you were tired?”

“That’s not how I'd put it.”

“No?” Tony said. “Then fill me in. Please, I'm just dying to know.”

Bucky took a seat at the glass table pushed up against one of the windows, setting his gun within reach beside him as he kicked out the other chair for Tony to sit down. Tony didn’t move. He wasn’t about to let his guard down just yet. “That place, the work,” Bucky started, “it kills you. Sucks your soul out. Just look at Nick Fury.”

Tony had to give him that one. ‘Soulless’ was definitely one word to describe him.

“You look like you’re starting to see that, too.”

“I'm not feeling the suction just yet.” Bucky didn’t look convinced. Hell, it wasn’t even enough to convince Tony himself, though he hadn’t come here to whine about his struggles to the guy he was supposed to be arresting. “You’ve lost your soul now, is that it?”

“Feels like,” said Bucky with a casual shrug, and in that moment he looked so much older than his boyish face would suggest. There was the same weariness in his eyes that Tony had seen all too often; the one he was starting to see every time he looked in a mirror. In an instant it felt more like he was talking to a young victim than a criminal.

“When I said the job kills you,” Bucky continued, lifting his shirt to reveal a round, pale scar on his abdomen, “I wasn’t being metaphorical.”

Tony sank down into the seat opposite him. No-one had ever mentioned that Bucky had gotten hurt. That did go some way to explain how he’d ended up here, but Tony still wasn’t satisfied. “You take a knock to the head when you got that, too?” he said. “’Cause otherwise I just don’t get it. I mean, you had a home; you had friends; you had a job to be proud of. Is Loki really worth more than that?”

Bucky’s smile slid back into place, his melancholy gone as quickly as it had appeared. “Absolutely.”

“I guess it’s too bad this is gonna end bloody, then.” Bucky raised an eyebrow in response. “With you two Bonnie and Clyde-ing across the country, how well do you think things are going to work out for you? You guys are either going out in handcuffs or body bags. If you love Loki so much, you don’t want him to end up like that.”

That did it. Bucky’s smile faltered, understanding dawning in his pale blue eyes. He was smart enough to realise they wouldn’t get away with this forever, yet it seemed only now that Bucky was realising just how badly things would turn out, for Loki if not for himself. Would it not have ruined the moment, Tony would have grinned he was so pleased with himself. It wasn’t often his words actually got him out of trouble.

He slid from his chair and stood, shooting the duffel bag lying open by his feet one last glance as he tucked his gun back into its holster. “You know,” he said and glanced back at Bucky, “there is one other way this can end.”

Bucky looked up to meet Tony’s eyes, but he stayed silent, wordlessly prompting Tony to keep talking. “You two walk away from this. Take Loki out of the country, go live on a farm somewhere... whatever – just stop. We can’t find you if we don’t have any more leads to chase.”

“Why would you give us the chance?”

Tony shrugged. “You caught me on a good day.” He turned and made his way to the front door, but that didn’t stop Bucky calling after him.

“You’re sure it’s not ‘cause you’ve got a soft spot, Agent Stark?”

“I'm sure.” He didn’t even have to look back to know Bucky was grinning again.

“’Cause it’s not very professional behaviour to let your suspects get away.” Against his better judgement, Tony met Bucky’s eyes once he’d reached the door. He was stood a few feet behind Tony, quiet confidence rolling off him in waves, and his smile widened as Tony met his gaze. “You know, you can stay if that’s what you want.”

Tony didn’t answer. The door closed behind him silently and he was back out in the cold air, marching across the gravel while he wrapped his arms across his chest to keep the biting wind from slipping through his shirt. He didn’t give the house another glance as he climbed into his car, though from the corner of his eye he could see Bucky watching him through the window.

He had a nasty feeling he’d just made things worse for himself.


	7. Chapter 7

For over three months there had been nothing. No sign from Bucky and Loki, no news of more thefts, no leads for Tony and Bruce to follow in their investigation. It seemed Bucky had actually taken Tony's advice. He should be relieved that the case had dried up, yet if anything Tony felt almost empty.

Every night he spent sat alone in his apartment, poring over case files and hoping to find some closure somehow, ignoring everyone and everything around him. Of course, that was a little easier now Pepper was gone; he'd returned home after his conversation with Bucky to find a letter pushed under his door, explaining that Pepper had decided she wasn't going to waste any more of her time on him. He didn't blame her, and if he was honest, he'd barely noticed her absence in the months since they'd last spoken.

He tapped his pen on his desk, staring down at nothing in particular, until the sound of footsteps grew louder and a strained voice sounded above him.

"Any luck finding Bucky?"

Tony looked up to see Steve staring down at him, dark circles beneath his eyes and his face grim. It had been a while since Tony had seen him look any different. 'Carefree' wasn't exactly the word to describe him, but Steve was for the most part a good-natured person – all easy-going geniality and good humour – yet since Bucky had crawled out from the woodwork he'd been fraught with worry. He would probably burst a blood vessel before the case was closed – though thanks to Tony, that was likely to be a long damn time from now. He should really buy Steve a stress ball for him to work out his frustrations on.

"Not so much," Tony said with what hopefully looked more like an apologetic smile than a guilty one. "How are you?"

He didn't say anything, just spun a chair round from the empty desk in front of Tony's and took a seat. "I just want him found," he said quietly. "We've known each other since we were kids; I need to know he's okay."

Tony could have told him there and then. Yes, Bucky was okay. He was healthy. He was in love. He was the closest to happy he was probably capable of getting. Yet Tony didn't say anything. They sat in silence for a while, until a thought resurfaced in Tony's mind.

"Bucky almost died?"

Steve blinked and looked up to meet Tony's eyes again. "How did you hear about that?"

"I've been digging," he replied with a shrug.

"We were working a kidnapping case," said Steve after a moment. It took him some effort to form the words, but he forced a smile to mask the crack in his voice. "A father took his little girl after school. He wanted better visitation rights, I think – I don't really remember the details.

"Bucky and I found him at a place he owned upstate. We'd thought we'd be able to reason with the guy, since we all had his daughter's best interests in mind. But he had a gun."

"And Bucky got shot," Tony filled in for him. He wasn't sure he could watch Steve try to put on a brave face while he got the words out himself.

"It damaged his spinal cord. It was a miracle he ever managed to walk again. But Bucky, he never liked anyone worrying about him. He was always fine, no matter what. Even when he wasn't. First thing he did when he came to from the surgery and spotted Fury outside his room was read me the riot act for letting people know he'd gotten hurt." Steve smiled at the memory as he spoke, though there was nothing but sadness in his eyes.

"He didn't want anyone to know how bad it was. Everyone else thought he'd just taken a long vacation to recuperate. They didn't know he was in the hospital the whole time.

"He was different after that," he continued. "Quiet, withdrawn. I think he lost his respect for the job. And then he was gone."

"I don't blame him."

He nodded in response, staring down at his lap in thought before sighing and pushing himself back up to his feet. "You'll keep me posted?"

"Of course."

Steve crossed back to his desk, pausing only when his fiancée Peggy reached out to give his hand a gentle squeeze as he passed her. He offered her a warm-hearted smile in return before continuing across the room, and Tony returned to absent-mindedly tapping his pen.

His chin resting in his hand and eyes down, Tony didn't notice Fury leave his office and round the corner towards Tony's desk. "Stark," he called from a few feet away and Tony looked up to meet his one remaining eye. "Where's Banner?"

"Not back yet; why?"

Fury gestured for Tony to follow him. He led the way back into his office and rounded his desk, his fingers resting on the top sheet of a stack of paperwork while he waited for Tony to close the door.

"Still no new activity in the Barnes case?"

"No, sir. They knew we were onto them; my guess is they got the hell out of dodge."

"Maybe not," Fury said. "I've just had word of another bank heist upstate. We've got no visual, but it's their M.O. This takes precedence over the case you and Banner are working now. I want to know if this was Barnes, and if it was I want him brought in. We can't lose him for another three months."

Tony nodded. "Got it. I'll find Bruce on my way out."

He didn't, though, and he didn't head upstate to check out the crime scene either. Instead he hit the road.

He couldn't quite tell what he was feeling; relief, excitement perhaps, with just a dash of dread thrown in for good measure. Part of him hoped it wasn't Bucky and Loki, that they were still in hiding somewhere and Tony wouldn't have to make good on his promise of how things would end for the pair, though that was probably wishful thinking. And it would probably be for the best if they did arrest Bucky and Loki. There'd be two fewer criminals on the streets and this whole mess would be over. Tony would be free to move on with his life while they languished in prison.

Yet that thought wasn't remotely appealing. There was no denying Tony had a soft spot for the pair, and not even the chance of these months of conflicting emotions and loyalties finally coming to an end could make him feel better about Bucky and Loki's pending arrest.

The sky had turned an inky black by the time Tony rolled into the increasingly familiar town. He'd returned too many times since he'd last spoken to Bucky, though not once had he plucked up the courage to make his way to the house and see if they were still there. And tonight was shaping up to be the same. He didn't know what he was supposed to say if he found the pair, or how he'd react if he didn't, so instead he found a parking space and headed into the same bar as always for a much needed drink.

There were a handful of people scattered about, most enjoying a post-work drink from the looks of it, though it was the solitary figure sitting at the bar that caught Tony's eye. His hair was a little longer, but otherwise Loki hadn't changed a bit since Tony had last seen him.

Tony's feet haltingly moved him towards the bar, thoughts tripping over themselves in his mind as he tried to work out his course of action. First, though, he needed his drink. He took a seat a few stools down from Loki's and ordered a scotch, gulping down a mouthful without even tasting it.

A smirk tugged at Loki's mouth when he glanced over at Tony. "Are you following me, Agent Stark?" he said.

"Did you do it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tony just turned to shoot him a sceptical look in response and Loki shrugged. "What would you have me say?"

That was all the confirmation Tony needed. Of course, Loki's self-satisfied expression didn't exactly paint him as innocent, either.

"I thought the two of you were done. It's been three months – what the hell happened?" His eyes flicked across the room after he'd spoken, though everyone seemed to be too caught up in their own conversations to pay them any attention. He moved closer to Loki just to be on the safe side.

"We got bored," Loki said simply before taking another sip of his drink. "Besides, surely you could use the excitement. Or is sitting at your desk all day really so thrilling?"

"Now who's stalking whom?"

Loki grinned. "You're an interesting man, Agent Stark."

He slid from his stool and slunk towards the men's room. Tony didn't give it a second thought before he followed, and as soon as the door swung shut behind Tony Loki's hands were on him, steering him into the nearest stall without a word.

"What are you doing?"

"This is what you want, is it not?" His lips were on Tony's before he could react, though the way Loki was kissing him, Tony wasn't eager to do anything but let him. He stood with his back to the wall, Loki's hips pressed up against his and arms on either side of Tony's face keeping him in place as his tongue slid into Tony's mouth. God, he was a good kisser. Tony's mind went back to the night he'd seen Loki and Bucky together and his hips rolled against Loki's with a mind of their own.

This was definitely not protocol.

"Okay," he said when they finally broke apart to catch their breath, "what the hell was that?"

"Like I said, you're interesting."

"And Bucky? What would he think of you making out with other guys in public toilets?"

"If anything," Loki said, his lips still a hair's breadth from Tony's, "I imagine he'd be upset that we left him out.

"I saw you, you know," he continued, moving to breathe against Tony's ear while his hand slid between them to palm at Tony's crotch, "hiding in the bushes, watching Bucky and I together. You liked what you saw, didn't you?"

"Yes," breathed Tony, rocking his hips into Loki's hand and stretching his neck out to allow Loki more room to brush his lips along Tony's throat. Loki worked his way up Tony's neck, along his jaw until he reached Tony's lips for an even hungrier kiss than their first, his hand still rubbing Tony through his pants all the while.

"Did you wish you could join in?"

"Fuck." The word was barely more than a puff of air against Loki's cheek. It was the closest Tony would let himself come to admitting it, but Loki knew. He seemed to know everything when it came to Tony. Tony could only hope he wasn't so transparent around everyone.

Loki stepped back, his eyes boring into Tony's. "Come home with me," he said. "I want you out of that suit."

 

Wet lips pressed against the back of Tony's neck, trailing down his spine while Loki's hands slid to rest on his hips. He was kneeling between Bucky and Loki on their impossibly soft mattress, his mouth on Bucky's and his erection straining against the fabric of his pants. Desperate cries from Tony's last shred of common sense still echoed around his head, begging him not to go through with this, though if he hadn't listened as he and Loki left the bar and drove back here, there was no way he was going to listen now. Not with Loki pushing his pants down around his knees and Bucky wrapping a warm hand around his dick.

He grunted and jerked forward into the touch. "Eager?" Bucky said with a crooked grin, his forehead pressed to Tony's and lips a shining dark pink. He flicked his tongue across his bottom lip as Tony watched through his lashes, inspiring all sorts of sinful thoughts about what else he could do with it and making Tony's heart rate jump.

His blood pounding through his veins must have stood out like a homing beacon, for in the next second Loki's mouth moved to the side of Tony's neck, sucking against his pulse point until Tony could hardly think of anything but how good it felt. He'd bedded more than his share of people, yet he couldn't remember it feeling this intense since he was an embarrassingly inexperienced teenager, still awestruck by the mere sight of another naked body. Maybe that was it, then; he'd just been starved of affection for so long he'd practically re-earned his virginity.

Well this was the perfect way to lose it again.

"It's been a while," he said once he remembered there was a world outside of Loki's mouth on him.

"I guess it would just be cruel to draw this out, then."

The pressure on Tony's dick subsided as Bucky spoke, but after a brief flash of panic Tony managed to close his hand around Bucky's before he could pull it away completely. "Don't you dare," Tony said.

He earned himself a laugh in response, a warm chuckle that lit up Bucky's face, before Bucky resumed stroking him, groaning when Tony slid a hand down his toned stomach to massage the bulge in his jeans. They were off a moment later. And he looked even better up close; he knew it too, lounging back on the bed, arms folded under his head and a grin on his face as he watched Tony's eyes drink in the sight of him.

That was enough to silence Tony's remaining doubts.

Cold air hit the wet spot on Tony's neck as Loki's mouth disappeared and he moved away from the pair, sending a shiver through Tony's body. He was about to pull Loki back when he heard the soft drag of a drawer being pulled open.

Ah. On second thought, he was happy to let Loki abandon him and Bucky for the moment.

Anticipation coiled in Tony's stomach and he tore his eyes from Bucky to watch Loki root through the drawer. His back was turned to the bed and pink scratches stood out in stark contrast to the pale skin, criss-crossing up and down his back and hips, some deep enough to draw blood.

"Yeah," Bucky said from below him, "he's that good."

"Better," corrected Loki as he returned to the bed with a condom and a bottle of lube in his hand. He settled beside Bucky, his tongue sliding along the shell of Bucky's ear while Tony leant down to familiarise himself with Loki's body. Muscles quivered under Tony's lips as he mouthed his way down Loki's stomach and past the erection begging for attention, and while Tony was occupied making Loki curse like a sailor biting the bruises he found marring Loki's inner thigh – no doubt Bucky's handiwork – Bucky slid a slick finger between Tony's legs and worked on stretching him open.

Fuck, it had been a long damn time since he'd felt anyone's fingers inside him but his own. He rocked back against Bucky's hand, his moans replacing Loki's as Loki pulled him up for a kiss before reaching for the condom packet lost somewhere in the mass of bodies.

"We should have done this months ago," Bucky said. Tony could only groan again in response, his bottom lip caught between Loki's teeth, their bodies writhing against each other. The last few months would have probably been far less stressful had Tony stayed after his and Bucky's conversation – though maybe Tony had needed that silence to drive him to this level of reckless desperation.

Whatever. He was too preoccupied to think about it now.

As soon as Bucky's fingers slipped from Tony's body, Loki wrapped a hand around his waist and rolled them over. Eyes burning with lust, he grinned down at Tony and slowly pushed inside.

"Oh, Stark," he breathed once he'd bottomed out, "you're so tight."

He was bigger than Tony was used to – or perhaps the twenty years since his youthful experimentations with gay sex had dulled his memory – stretching him almost painfully, but once he started moving it was more than worth it.

"You weren't kidding," he said to Bucky as he curled beside Tony, his lips brushing along the column of Tony's throat while he hooked a hand under Tony's thigh. His fingers grazing up and down Tony's skin sent shivers through his body until all Tony could think about was the myriad sensations overwhelming him.

"I never kid." He rolled his hips against Tony's side as he spoke, and Tony reached down to wrap a hand around his dick, his thumb sweeping across the tip while Bucky's eyes slid closed in bliss.

As Loki's thrusts grew harder the insistent squeak of the mattress springs joined the moans and panting already filling the air. Tony wouldn't be surprised if the sound of his heart beat was audible as well, it was hammering so violently in his chest. Loki was a machine, his hips pounding relentlessly, not even pausing when he would change the pace of his movements, yet Tony was managing to keep up pretty well so far despite the exhaustion steadily creeping up on him.

His free hand moved to Loki's ass to pull him in closer and he tilted his hips, the change of angle sending Loki driving against his prostate. It was enough to propel Tony to the brink of orgasm, the pleasure building within him reaching bursting point, and with a few strokes of Loki's hand on his cock Tony came with a shout.

Fuck. That had been something. They really should have done this months ago.

Loki kept stroking Tony through the aftershocks of his orgasm before leaning down to mouth his way along Tony's jaw, though when Tony reached between their sweat-damped bodies to take Loki's dick in hand Loki pinned his wrist to the bed. He pressed a rough kiss to Tony's lips and climbed off him, filling the spot Bucky had vacated to snatch up the bottle of lube again.

Through his post-coital stupor Tony understood. And not even his body's need to curl up and go to sleep could dampen his interest now.

Bucky moved back towards the head of the bed again and straddled Loki. With a wink at Tony, he sank down on Loki's cock, groans putting an end to the brief hush that had settled over the room as he rode Loki into the mattress.

This was definitely an improvement on watching the pair from the bushes. Their movements were less controlled than last time, both too far gone for finesse, but not one of them cared. Loki pulled Tony in for a kiss as he snapped his hips up faster to meet Bucky's increased pace and after a moment his body tensed, his moan stifled by Tony's mouth.

Bucky reached his own climax a moment later. He let out a breathless laugh while he pushed his hair back from his face, and by some genetic blessing still managed to look almost completely composed as he climbed off Loki and hopped down onto the floor. Now that was just grossly unfair. Tony didn't even want to know what a state he himself looked. He was still a damn attractive man, he knew; no less so now than fifteen years earlier, though the post-sex look was far from his best.

But Loki didn't seem to mind, draping an arm across Tony's torso and showering him with lazy kisses until the sound of a lighter flicking on sounded from somewhere above them, followed by the unmistakable smell of weed filling Tony's nostrils.

The mattress bounced beneath him when Bucky dropped back down onto the bed. He sat cross-legged facing Tony and Loki's entwined bodies and as Tony shifted to lie on his back Bucky held the smoking joint inches from his face. "What d'you say, Agent Stark?"

"It's like being back in college," he said with a wry smile as he took it from Bucky. His hand hovered at his lips once he caught Bucky raise an eyebrow. "What? I wasn't always this boring."

"I think going to bed with the men you were sent to arrest definitely counts as 'not boring,'" Loki piped up from beside him, finding the bruise he'd made on Tony's neck earlier and closing his mouth around it again as Tony took a drag.

"Damn straight."

Bucky plucked the joint from Tony's fingers and said, "I wanna meet this wild Stark; he sounds like my kind of guy."

"Drugs and casual sex and way too much partying? Yeah, you guys'd be best buds." Tony opened his eyes to see Bucky blow out a long stream of smoke before staring down at him with a toothy grin, stretching forward to hand Loki the joint while doing his best to stay rooted in his spot on the bed. "It's been a while since he's come out to play."

"We should rectify that."

That could be fun. Tony hadn't felt this relaxed in years – and that wasn't just the pot talking. The last time he remembered having a good night out was when he and Rhodey got accepted to Quantico, and that hadn't been nearly as wild as some of his more entertaining adventures. A job in the FBI didn't exactly go hand-in-hand with hard partying.

"You know, I came here to find out why you were back," Tony said once he'd remembered that fact himself, his eyelids drooping as he spoke. He was slowly but surely losing his battle to stay awake.

"Yeah, but this is so much more fun, isn't it?"

Tony grinned lazily. He couldn't argue with that. "I still want to know."

Bucky uncrossed his legs and stretched out, shifting closer towards Tony before he replied. "We gotta plan for our retirement."

Those were the last words Tony registered before he drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been such a crazy amount of time since the last update for this story; the first half of this chapter has been stuck on my broken laptop for the last few months. Hopefully it won't take nearly as long for the next chapter to be up.

Bucky woke in a tangle of body parts, sunlight streaming in through the windows bright enough to shine through his closed eyelids. He threw his free hand over his eyes to block out the light and lay silently for a moment. He wasn't usually one to stay in bed all morning, though after last night Bucky didn't quite feel his typical energetic self. But boy, was it worth it.

He grinned to himself just at the memory of it. Tony was still fast asleep in bed beside him, his short hair tickling against Bucky's arm, and from the sound of it Loki was curled up on Tony's other side. It was odd, hearing two sets of heavy breathing beside him rather than one, though Bucky lay listening to it regardless. Maybe if they did this more often he'd get used to it.

Tony had seemed to be on board with it last night, though whether he'd change his mind in the cold light of morning was another matter. Bucky hoped not – and not just because he'd miss Tony’s company in bed. Tony knew far too much for them to let him go back to his investigation as if nothing had happened.

His thoughts dissipated when Tony stirred and Bucky cracked his eyes open, pulling his hand away from his face in time to watch Tony struggle to adjust to the light as well. He looked up at Bucky with a self-conscious smile.

Well he wasn't freaking out; that was a good sign.

"Morning," he said quietly, voice slightly hoarse, and Bucky grinned in response.

Neither of them was ready to get out of bed yet, so they sank back against the pillows and closed their eyes again, Bucky's hand absentmindedly brushing through Tony's hair until Loki shifted and kicked the bedcovers off himself. He didn't offer them a word, only gave the pair a quick glance while rubbing his eyes before he stood up on the mattress and climbed over them to get to the other side of the bed.

The mattress sunk around Loki's feet, jostling Tony and Bucky, and they both grumbled in response. He could be such a pain in the ass. But after nearly two years with him Bucky had grown to find it endearing. Mostly. He pulled a face at Loki once he'd stepped back down onto the wooden floor, though Loki didn't stop in his path toward the doorway to notice.

"How do you put up with him?" Tony said.

"Not a day goes by that I don't ask myself the same thing."

"I heard that," came the reply from Loki, echoing down the hallway as he made his way to the bathroom.

With a soft laugh Bucky pushed himself up to rest on his elbows, considering whether or not he wanted to glance over at the clock on the nightstand. He decided against it. It was much more interesting to roll onto his side and lean in for a kiss from Tony instead. Their lips brushed against each other's before Bucky moved down to Tony's neck and Tony's fingers slid into his hair, his grip tightening when Bucky's teeth grazed his Adam's apple. Bucky's dick stirred in response.

He rolled them over and found Tony's own erection pressing against his hip. It seemed Bucky and Loki definitely didnt need to worry about Tony's investigation anymore.

That was one way to get the FBI off their back.

Bucky was so wrapped up tasting every inch of Tony's skin he didn't notice the soft footsteps padding up the hall. It was only when the step at the entrance to the bedroom creaked that he looked up to see Loki standing above them and gazing down at the pair appreciatively.

"Care to join us?" Bucky said, biting his lip to suppress a gasp when Tony's mouth closed around his earlobe.

"No, I think I'd rather watch."

"Pervert," said Tony with a grin.

"You're a bad influence on me, Stark."

Loki's eyes flicked back to Bucky and his smile widened, while Tony mouthed along Bucky's neck and collarbone as if they were the only two people in the room. Well Bucky was certainly happy to indulge.

He had just begun to grind his hips against Tony's when a muffled ringing sounded from across the room. It wasn't his ringtone; didn't sound like Loki's either. Bucky tore his attention away from Tony to watch Loki dig the phone from Tony's pants.

"Bruce Banner," he announced as he looked down at the screen. "Your partner?"

"Shit." Tony scrambled off the bed, though as he held his hand out for his phone Loki didn't pass it over.

"Should we answer it?" he said instead. "Let him know what you've been up to?" He chuckled when Tony snatched it from his hand. But Tony didn't answer it either, staring down at the still ringing phone while a frown creased his brows.

"You gonna get that?" Bucky said.

"And say what? 'Hey, I found the suspects – they're really good in bed.'"

The ringing stopped as Tony glanced back at the phone, plunging the room into relative silence except for the faint sound of the water fountain running outside. Tony's frown didn't disappear with the noise, though, and one of his own spread across Bucky's face as he watched Tony.

Reality was rearing its ugly head again. Bucky hated when that happened.

"Mind if I use your shower?" Tony said to Loki.

"Do you want some company?"

"I think I can manage."

Bucky pushed himself off the bed and stretched his stiff muscles as Tony headed toward the doorway. "I'll find you some clean clothes."

Tony didn't reply, just carried on down the hall in silence until the bathroom door clicked shut behind him and the sound of running water followed. Loki was still staring after him while Bucky rooted through his and Loki's clothes for something which would fit Tony, his expression grim. "He feels guilty," he said.

"Doesn't mean he's gonna turn us in." That wasn't enough to convince Loki. Bucky tossed the bundle of clothes onto the bed and crossed back to Loki's side, though despite Bucky's invasion of his personal space, Loki kept on staring after the man who'd long since disappeared from view. "You still don't think we can trust him?"

"He's still a fed."

"So was I," Bucky pointed out. "You don't hold that against me."

Finally Loki's eyes flicked to Bucky. "Do you really think you and I would be together if you had been working for the FBI when we met?"

"Of course. You just can't live without me, Loki." He grinned and Loki rolled his eyes as a smile of his own fought its way onto his face. It was a lot more convincing than Bucky's hollow expression. No doubt Loki could see that, too.

"How are you?" he said, his attention fully concentrated on Bucky now.

"I'm good."

"Really, James."

"Still good." He pulled Loki in for a deep kiss to prove it, though it was as sincere as his smile had been, and just as transparent. But Loki had never pressed the matter before, and hopefully now he had bigger things on his mind than Bucky's mental state. Loki's presence in Bucky's life had distracted him from the worst of the self-destructive tendencies which had threatened to consume him after his injury; Loki knew that, and he knew Bucky still loved him more than anything. That was usually enough to keep him from worrying too much.

"If anything happens to you–" he started.

"It won't. Stark's not going to sell us out."

Loki sighed and glanced back toward the bathroom door. "I hope you're right."

***

"Hey," Bucky said when Tony stepped into the main room, slipping his phone back into the pocket of the pair of jeans Bucky had left out for him after it fell silent once more. He couldn't avoid Bruce's calls forever, he knew, but he could go a little longer without having to deal with the rest of the world.

Bucky was stood at the stove, a spatula in one hand while the other sprinkled salt on the scrambled eggs he was cooking, clad only in a tight pair of grey and red striped boxer shorts. "Want some breakfast?" he said.

"Sure."

He perched on one of the stools at the island opposite while Bucky served the eggs and popped another two slices of bread in the toaster. "So, you sticking around today?"

"I don't know... I should probably head back."

"You might want to do something about that, then," Loki said from his spot leaning against the sink, as he nodded at the dark bruise on Tony's neck. He was in a similar state of undress to Bucky. It wasn't often that Tony was the most overdressed person in the room.

"Yeah, thanks for that."

Loki had a point, though. How was Tony going to explain it away when he went back to work? How was he going to explain any of this? He would have almost a day's drive to think of something, yet he didn't much fancy leaving before he had a rock-solid explanation in place. He didn't particularly want to leave at all, actually.

"You're welcome." Loki grinned before taking a sip of his coffee while Bucky slid onto the stool beside Tony and made a start on his breakfast. Tony did the same. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until he'd swallowed his first forkful of eggs.

It was only after his plate was half clean that Tony noticed Loki hadn't moved. "You're not eating?"

"Nah, Loki doesn't eat," Bucky said.

"I eat. Perhaps it's just your cooking I can't stomach."

"What? I'm a great cook – Stark, back me up."

Tony nodded. "Tastes good," he said around his mouthful of food and Bucky shot Loki a triumphant expression. It was then that a thought resurfaced in Tony's mind. "Hey, what were you guys talking about last night, about your retirement?"

Loki's eyes darted from Tony's to Bucky. They stared at each other for a moment, neither one of them saying a word, until Loki turned to set his mug in the sink. "Come on," he said. "It's too nice today to sit around inside."

 

The sun beat down on the stone patio when Bucky and Tony stepped outside. It wasn't overly warm yet, but compared to the last few months it was practically barbeque weather. And the sunshine was certainly a welcome change from the miserable grey skies Tony had had to endure for far too long.

"Now this is more like it," Bucky said, just as a click from behind them signalled Loki's presence, his footsteps silent as he joined the pair while lighting the cigarette pressed between his lips. Tony had already lost count of how many times he'd seen Loki smoking. "I'm telling you, Loki, we gotta move somewhere hot."

Loki didn't have the chance to reply before Bucky had hurled himself into the pool with a tremendous splash. He broke the still rippling surface of the water a few seconds later and shook out his wet hair, and after some manoeuvring under the surface Tony couldn't quite make out, a pair of sodden, striped boxer shorts flew through the air and landed between Tony and Loki's feet with a wet slap.

"You guys coming in or what?"

"How is it?" Loki said while he rounded the pool, tossing his cigarette packet and lighter onto one of the two sun loungers pushed back against the low wall separating the patio from the woods behind. His skin looked even paler in the bright sunlight; a feat Tony hadn't thought possible until this moment.

"See for yourself."

Tony stripped off his t-shirt and jeans and jumped in. Cold water lapped at his skin, though it was more refreshing than uncomfortable. "So is this what you guys do all day?" he said, glancing from Bucky languidly swimming toward the other end of the pool to Loki sitting at the edge, his legs dangling into the water while he finished his cigarette. "Just lounge around the house until you find something worth stealing?"

"Pretty much," Bucky said with a shrug. "Though some days we don't even make it out of bed."

Tony didn't doubt that somehow – but from what he’d already experienced he couldn't blame them. He wouldn't mind spending his days in bed with the pair either if he had the choice. And their lifestyle was definitely an enviable one. Pretty much his every summer growing up had been more or less the same, lazing around a pool or on a beach in some luxury exotic resort. He hadn't thought he'd get to experience anything close to that again, not on his salary. It had been years since he'd even had a vacation. And while treading water in a modest, lukewarm pool with two wanted criminals was hardly comparable to the vacations he'd enjoyed in his youth, he wouldn't trade his company, and as the sun climbed higher in the clear sky, showering warmth down upon them, it was satisfying enough.

***

It was late afternoon when Tony's phone rang again. Loki had been expecting it for hours. "That's it," he said, pushing himself out of the pool and rooting through the pockets of Tony's discarded clothes before Tony could untangle himself from Bucky and catch up to him.

"Oh, thank God," Bucky piped up from the water as Loki pulled his arm back to toss the phone into the canopy of trees. Tony's hands flew out to stop him just as he was about to let go.

"What are you doing?"

"Are you staying or leaving?" Loki replied. His eyes never left Tony's even as the phone fell silent again in his hand. They couldn't draw this out any longer. Loki needed to know where they stood.

"I'm staying; Jesus," Tony said quickly. "But I'll need to tell them something. I can't just drop off the face of the Earth."

Loki handed the phone back to him and he disappeared into the house while Loki retrieved his cigarettes and took a seat at the side of the pool. The edge of the stone slab he sat on was sharp against his bare thighs, but he didn't move, watching the glass door that led into the dining area without a word.

"You know," Bucky said as he swam over toward Loki, "if we told him, he might help."

"Why would he want to do that?"

"As a thank you for us helping to dislodge that giant bug up his ass."

"It's one thing to come to bed with us, but quite another to help us commit a felony, don't you think?" Loki said. "He'd sooner see us in chains."

"Well everyone wants to see you in chains, baby. It's quite a sight."

Loki tore his eyes from the door to glance down at Bucky. He was wearing the same hopeful smile he always did when their conversation would head toward a troubling topic and he'd try to joke his way out of it. It wasn't going to work this time, though. Loki rolled his eyes.

As much as he preferred Bucky's unflappable attitude to the depression he tended to slip into when it was absent, at times his clinging to the delusion that everything was fine became absurd. With their lives in jeopardy if things with Stark took a sour turn, this was unquestionably one of those times.

Bucky's smile faded as he watched Loki. "I get it," he said seriously. "We're in over our heads here. But you were the one who wanted an easy way to make a buck; you didn't think there would be consequences?" He plucked the cigarette from between Loki's fingers and took a drag, his other arm looping around the small of Loki's back, though it did little to comfort him.

Loki had been well aware their actions would bring the FBI down on them – they had hardly been inconspicuous, after all. He hadn't much cared about getting caught at first, but somewhere along the way reality had caught up with him. Bucky's fear of losing Loki and desire to quit while they were ahead had proved infectious, and the thought of anything happening to Bucky because of him... It was just too much to bear.

"Stark won't give us up," Bucky continued. "He could've done it months ago and he didn't. He likes us too much."

"Though if he knew when and where his colleagues could find us breaking the law, he would be able to betray us without his attachment to us coming to light."

Bucky shook his head. "He goes AWOL and then shows up conveniently knowing where we're gonna be? Looks too suspicious. Don't worry so much. You'll get wrinkles."

"And that would be a tragedy to you, would it?"

Bucky's grin was firmly back in place when Loki looked down at him, and this time his smile actually spread to his eyes. That didn't happen nearly as often as Loki wished it would. "Well I don't want to go through all the trouble of trading you in for a younger model until I have to."

The splash of Bucky's arms flailing in the water drowned out his cry as Loki's hand connected with Bucky's head and pushed him down under the surface. The waves Bucky created in his fuss spilled over onto the patio, narrowly avoiding Tony's pile of clothes – though it wasn't as if he had any need for them anyway. Loki had barely pulled his hand away when Bucky emerged spluttering, and wrapped his strong arms around Loki's waist again to drag him into the pool as well. His skin scraped against the stone as Bucky pulled him forward, chlorine stinging the wound when he plunged into the water, but the pain wore off quickly enough, and while he and Bucky kissed Loki forgot about it completely.

The sound of glass doors sliding open and closed drew Loki's attention away from Bucky, and he glanced back toward the house as Tony reappeared. The tension that had been radiating from him before was gone now. "Hey," he said.

"How did it go?"

"Told 'em my dad was sick," he said as he came to join them in the pool. "Not like it'd take a stretch of the imagination to believe that. So I've got the next two weeks as well-earned holiday before I need to worry about getting back to work."

"So you're sticking with us for a couple of weeks, huh?" Bucky shot Loki a glance as he spoke. Just that look was enough for Loki to know exactly what he was thinking – and while Tony's decision to stay was a good sign, Loki's worries didn't fully dissipate. There was too much at stake for him to let his guard down completely.

"Unless I wear out my welcome before then."

"Nah," Bucky said, pulling Tony closer and catching his lips in a kiss that sent a brief pang of lust through Loki. "The more the merrier."

***

Once the sky had darkened and the air grown too cold for them to lounge around the swimming pool any longer, they reluctantly dressed and relocated to the patio table, spending the evening smoking and drinking and finishing off the last of Bucky's weed.

"Be honest, Tony," Bucky said as he set his beer bottle down on the glass tiled tabletop with a clink, his feet resting in Loki’'s lap, "you don't want to go home, do you?"

Tony shrugged. "Sunshine, plenty of pot and some really great sex? Best vacation ever. But I don't know," he added with a sigh, his smile fading at the unpleasant reminder that this really wasn't his world, as much as he'd like it to be. "The job just doesn't seem worth it anymore. Maybe I wasn't cut out for it."

"You know what I'd like to know? How Howard Stark's son even ends up working for the FBI in the first place."

"I wanted to help people," he replied with a scoff. He'd been so naive. "I should have gone to Stark Industries instead. Money would have been better. Wouldn't have pissed my dad off so much, though."

"And we know what a powerful motivator that can be," Bucky said, a smirk on his face as his gaze flicked from Tony to Loki.

Loki narrowed his eyes in response. "What are you implying?" he said.

"Me? Not a thing."

Tony smiled at Bucky's faux-innocent expression and sank back into his chair while he finished his drink. Like this, it was easy to forget about everything that was going on, but that didn't change the fact Loki and Bucky were still planning something. He hadn't forgotten what Bucky had said about their retirement, and their disinclination to share their plan made Tony more than a little nervous. If he couldn't talk them out of it, maybe he'd be able to keep things from getting too out of hand. At the very least, he needed to know what they were up to.

That moment came after Tony had been hiding out from his own life with them for almost a week. They were in the kitchen, Tony chopping vegetables for the spaghetti sauce Bucky was making while Loki dished out the beers, and as Tony reached out for the cold bottle Loki offered him he sighed and put voice to the thoughts which had been dogging him.

"So did you guys have a plan in all this?" he said, and Bucky and Loki both paused to look up at him curiously. "You just start robbing shit for kicks or what?"

"That's pretty much how it started," replied Bucky with a wry smile.

"But now?"

"Now, not so much." He and Loki shared a brief glance before Bucky spoke again. "One more job. That's the new plan."

"And what happens after that? Your retirement?"

"I know a man who can get us out of the country," Loki said, leaning against the fridge door while Bucky turned his attention back to the sauce bubbling on the stove before him. "We can start a new life somewhere without the authorities on our heels."

"Bet that'll set you back a pretty penny."

Loki nodded. "Hence the job."

Tony paused, chewing his bottom lip as he weighed up his next words. He'd pretty much made up his mind days earlier, but once the words left his mouth there was no going back. He had to be certain.

"How can I help?"


	9. Chapter 9

Loki and Bucky both stared at him dubiously. "You want to help us," Loki said, arms folded across his chest and his face the picture of scepticism.

"Well I have a few conditions, obviously."

"Which would be?"

"No-one gets hurt." They scoffed almost in unison, but Tony kept speaking before either could voice their objections. "If someone gets in the way, you deal with them without doing any lasting damage or causing serious injury."

The look on Loki's face couldn't have been much more condescending if he'd tried. "And what if we leave someone alive who could identify us?" he said. "How would that be beneficial?"

"I guess you guys will just have to bring your A-game so that doesn't happen."

Loki rolled his eyes. He was never going to go for it. Tony hadn't really expected him to – they'd gotten this far without his help; they could probably get away clean one last time – though before Loki could open his mouth to refuse Tony spied Bucky, eyes down and thoughtful.

"Okay," he said quietly.

Loki's gaze snapped to Bucky, a mixture of surprise and disbelief on his face. "What?"

"Could come in handy, having someone else on board."

"It could also come in handy not leaving witnesses." Bucky didn't say anything. He met Loki's gaze head on, staring him down until Loki huffed and turned back to Tony. Whatever non-verbal conversation they'd been having, Bucky had been the clear winner. "Fine," Loki said. "No-one gets hurt. Anything else?"

"This is it for you two. You do this job, you get out of the country and you're done. Not so much as a parking ticket. You stay squeaky clean, no matter how boring it gets being regular, law-abiding citizens."

"Deal," Bucky said. Loki's mouth was still set in a grim line, his jaw clenched and arms crossed once again, but he nodded grudgingly as well.

"So what's the plan?"

Bucky shook his head. "Food first," he said. "Shop talk later."

At least he'd be getting answers eventually, he supposed. He wasn't sure how long he could wait, though, not now he'd gone and blindly signed himself up for whatever job Loki and Bucky were planning.

How long he could wait for answers turned out to be about an hour. They'd been sat around the dining table in silence, none of them in the mood for small talk. Tony had expected Bucky and Loki to make some conversation at least, though not a word had passed between them. Loki just stared down at his plate, his face unreadable as it often was, while Bucky gazed morosely out at the grey skies which had kept them inside all day.

"Okay, that's it," Tony said finally. "This is driving me crazy. What's the plan?"

Bucky blinked and turned back to Tony. He'd been so lost in his own thoughts he seemed almost surprised Tony was still there. "Knight and Weston," he announced.

"Never heard of them."

"Security company. High-end; mostly state-of-the-art home security for the rich and paranoid, but they also do the odd upgrade for commercial buildings."

"Like banks," Tony said, joining the dots himself. He could see where this was going.

"Like banks. And fitting the new security system means taking the old one offline first."

"And that's how you get in." Bucky nodded. "They've got to be anticipating people trying to pull something like this, though."

"Place'll be teaming with security guards," conceded Bucky, though his tone was as casual as ever. Clearly they'd done this enough times to know that the extra security wouldn't be an issue. "That's why we play the waiting game."

Tony frowned, but just as he was about to open his mouth to question what they were waiting for and how it would make any difference, Loki filled in the blanks for him.

"With a big enough building in the right location," he said, "we can get in and out almost completely undetected. An acquaintance of ours works for the company; she sends us the details of their upcoming projects, and we simply wait until the perfect job falls into our laps."

Well when he put it like that it just sounded easy.

"Until then, you may as well return home. Go back to your old life, and we'll be in touch when we need you."

 

"Tony, are you even paying attention?"

"Huh?" Tony blinked a few times and glanced over at Bruce sat in the passenger seat of his car. "What did you say?"

"You missed the turning." He was still watching Tony curiously as he circled back around the block and turned onto Bruce's street. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm just distracted."

Going stir-crazy was more like it. He'd been back at work for almost a month, and his only distraction from the mind-numbing tedium was the hope that any day now he could get the call from Loki and Bucky. But as the weeks slipped past, it was looking less and less likely he'd hear from them. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if this had all just been a way for the pair to get him off their backs.

Though as much as the cynic in him would love to, he just couldn't believe that. They wouldn't have let him escape from his world at their home for weeks – and they certainly wouldn't have spent the vast majority of that time in bed – if it had been nothing more than a game. They were good thieves, but they weren't conmen. And Tony had encountered enough liars in his time to know when he was being played.

"What else is new?" Bruce said as Tony pulled up outside his apartment building. "It's not your dad, is it? He's not sick again?"

"No, he's fine." Probably, at least. Tony hadn't spoken to him since Christmas. And they hadn't had much to say to each other then. "It's just me. Guess I'm feeling kind of run-down. Having a hard time concentrating."

"Get some sleep," he replied, a gentle smile on his face. Genuinely concerned about Tony's wellbeing, while Tony had been lying through his teeth to him for months. God, he was such an ass. "Steve's back from his vacation tomorrow. You know he'll want details about all the progress we've made finding Bucky while he's been gone."

Tony groaned. He hated lying to Steve about Bucky. It was remarkable Tony hadn't cracked already and told him everything. He probably wouldn't find it any more distressing to know Tony had been sleeping with Bucky than thinking they still had no idea where he was. At least he was safe and healthy, and probably hadn't broken any laws in at least a couple of weeks.

"I'll let you handle that conversation," he said.

"No way. You had two weeks away from it; it's your turn." Bruce smiled again and slid out of the car. "Goodnight, Tony."

"Yeah, you too."

Tony flicked the radio on once Bruce had shut the car door and turned to climb the steps to his front door, though he barely heard a word as he made his way across town to his own apartment.

He should have been glad not to have had the call. If Loki and Bucky were out of his life for good now, that meant he could forget about them, and hopefully given enough time his life wouldn't seem as frustrating as it did in their wake. It hadn't been that bad before, had it?

Of course, trying to convince himself that he'd be better off not hearing from the pair pretty much guaranteed that Tony would find Bucky leaning nonchalantly against his apartment door when he arrived home.

"Hey," he said, his languid grin in place, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about his presence.

"Two questions," Tony said. "One: how do you know where I live?"

Bucky just shot him a condescending look in return. Evidently he'd seen Loki's enough times to be a master of the expression as well. "Next question."

"How did you get in?"

And there was that look again. "Those were terrible questions." While Bucky spoke, Tony dug his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. "I've been hanging around here for hours. Where've you been?"

"Working. I do have this amazing new piece of technology called a cell phone for when people need to get hold of me. Which I kind of thought you'd use, what with the whole–"

He fell silent when a door opened across the hall and an older woman stepped out. She smiled politely at Tony as she passed, and he gave her a nod in return. Still couldn't remember her name, though. The moment she'd disappeared into the elevator Tony's eyes flicked back to meet Bucky's still on him.

"'–Wanted criminal' thing, and all," he finished as he ducked into his apartment. Before he'd even slid out of his jacket Bucky had followed him inside and was pushing him back against the door to catch his lips in a kiss.

In the time he'd been back in New York, Tony had forgotten the way Bucky moved his tongue against Tony's; the taste of coffee and stale cigarettes on his breath; the woody scent of his bodywash still clinging faintly to his skin. It all came flooding back to him now, as if no time had passed at all since they'd last seen each other.

"Missed you too," he said when Bucky pulled away from Tony's lips and took a step back with a grin, but whatever reply Bucky might have been about to offer, it was swiftly forgotten as he turned to study Tony's apartment.

Tony crossed his arms over his chest awkwardly while Bucky took in the cramped main room. He didn't know why he felt self-conscious about it. Loki and Bucky had apparently dug up just about everything there was to find out about him – they'd already be aware he wasn't exactly reflecting the lifestyle typically associated with the name Stark.

"I know; hardly compares to the digs you're used to," he started, making his way to the fridge as he spoke. There was nothing but two bottles of beer, some condiments and a piece of fruit so old he wasn't entirely sure what it was anymore inside. He wrapped his hands around the beers, keeping one for himself to wash down the three bites of lukewarm burrito that had served as his dinner and handed the other one to Bucky.

Bucky scoffed at Tony's words. "I grew up sharing a tiny bedroom with three siblings," he said, raising an eyebrow while he gulped down a mouthful of his drink. "This is practically a palace."

"Really?"

"What, you think ordinary people go to all the trouble of stealing when they're already rolling in it? Well, Loki... But that kid never did make much sense."

The corner of Tony's mouth quirked into a grin at that. "You love it."

"Little bit." His tone was casual, but the blissful smile that spread across Bucky's lips and up to his eyes at the mention of Loki spoke for itself.

"So Loki's minted, huh?" Tony said, leading the way to his bedroom and grabbing a duffel bag from the bottom of his wardrobe. He probably wouldn't be gone as long as last time, though given the choice he'd much rather have his own clothes than need to keep borrowing Bucky's.

"His folks are." Bucky leant against the doorframe, casually sipping his drink while Tony quickly changed and started packing. "I think his dad's some foreign dignitary, or something. Doubt he'll be getting much when they snuff it, though. He and his old man aren't exactly two peas."

"Sounds familiar."

"Guess it's a good thing we're about to make a truckload of money ourselves, then."

Tony hummed his agreement. "What about you," he said, and Bucky glanced up at him, eyebrows tilted in question. "Where are your parents in all this?"

"Long gone."

He probably should have known that already. If they'd been on the scene and still searching for their wayward son, surely Steve would have mentioned them at some point, maybe even introduced them to Tony and Bruce just to make it that little bit harder to keep lying to them all.

"Sorry."

He shrugged. "I've made my peace with it. Besides," he added as he stepped into the room to poke through Tony's open drawers, "with everything that's happened, I'm kinda glad they're not around to see it."

"You ever wish you could go back to how things were?"

Bucky chewed on the inside of his cheek, his face thoughtful, and sank down onto the bed beside Tony's half filled bag of clothes with a quiet sigh. "No," he said after a moment. "The life I had, it wasn't what I really wanted. It just felt like I was doing what other people thought I should. I don't think I was ever actually happy." His eyes flicked back up to Tony, a knowing look glittering within them. "I'm guessing you know something of what that's like."

Oh, Tony knew far more about that than he cared to. He silently held Bucky's gaze for a long second, the closest thing to confirmation he could manage, before turning back to his dresser. "You're happy now, then?" he said while he dug out the cleanest looking t-shirts he could find.

"I am. I mean, it's stupid, and dangerous, and I could lose everything, but it's kinda been worth it. After I left, it was like coming alive for the first time. I was free."

"And then you met Loki." In the mirror hanging above the dresser, Tony could see that warm smile on Bucky's face again.

"And then I met Loki. And I wouldn't change that for the world." He reached over to set his and Tony's beer bottles on the windowsill and got to his feet. "Come on; let's haul ass. Long drive ahead of us."

Tony nodded, shoving the last few things in his bag without care. The instant he'd zipped it up Bucky had taken hold of the handles himself, halfway to the bedroom door before Tony had even taken a step towards his wardrobe to grab a jacket. He hastily snatched one off its hanger and slipped it on as he followed Bucky out of the apartment.

The drive to Bucky and Loki's house was refreshingly dissimilar from the last time Tony had made the trip. He and Bucky drove through the night, though they stopped every couple of hours to stretch their legs and grab a coffee or something to eat, and when they were back on the road they drove leisurely enough that Bucky's car was never far from Tony's sight. Not that he really could have lost sight of it if they had been driving faster. There probably weren't many people around these parts who could afford to drive a classic Alfa Romeo. It had to be worth almost double Tony's yearly salary at least.

The sky was just turning a pale shade of blue when Tony turned down the driveway towards the house after Bucky, and as he caught sight of it through the trees the front door opened and Loki appeared, alerted to their arrival by the loud crunch of wheels on gravel. He was dressed in only a pair of pyjama bottoms, a mug of coffee in his hand, and when Bucky climbed out of his car he descended the front steps with a smile to draw him in for a kiss.

"Stark," he said once Tony had parked behind Bucky's car and stepped out onto the driveway. He threw his arm across Bucky's shoulders as he spoke, pulling him closer against his body while Bucky helped himself to a mouthful of Loki's coffee.

"Loki." It hadn't occurred to him until then that he still didn't know Loki's last name. Aside from surveillance footage, he and Bruce had never managed to find anything on Bucky's mysterious partner in crime. How had he not realised that until now?

Well, it wouldn't matter soon anyway.

"Welcome back."


	10. Chapter 10

Tony had expected them to get straight to business once they'd followed Loki back into the house – which, aside from the boxes overflowing with things the pair had presumably amassed during their cross-country crime spree forming an obstacle course down the hallway, hadn't changed a bit since Tony had last set foot in the place. But instead, the moment Tony's bag hit the floor Bucky's hand closed around his wrist and he steered him into the bedroom so they could catch up on a few hours' sleep. He couldn't say he minded, though. As much as he was used to running on fumes for days at a stretch, when those days were leading up to what would possibly be the biggest mistake of his life, he'd prefer to be sharp enough to keep things from going horribly wrong for them all.

When Tony dragged himself up out of bed and shuffled into the main room later that day he found Loki sat in his usual spot at the dining table with a laptop open in front of him. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Tony's footsteps.

"Afternoon," Tony said, his eyes flicking away from the clock on the wall back to Loki. "Got any coffee?"

Loki reached over for something behind his laptop and lifted the coffee pot, its contents sloshing against the glass sides with the movement. Of course he did. Loki practically lived on the stuff – though Tony wasn't much better himself, he supposed.

He helped himself to a clean mug from the cupboard and took a seat at the table as well. "So the perfect job has fallen in your laps, I take it," Tony said while he filled his mug and gulped down a warm mouthful. It tasted even better in comparison to the Starbucks espressos he'd been knocking back for the last month since he'd returned to work. "Care to fill me in?"

Loki studied Tony in silence, intensely enough that Tony almost squirmed under the scrutiny. His hesitation wasn't entirely surprising. Loki and Bucky's entire lives could be at risk if Tony was lying about wanting to help them, and while Bucky didn't seem to have any concerns that Tony planned to double-cross them, Loki had never let go of his wariness completely. That was probably the smart move, on his part.

After a moment Loki let out a tiny sigh and twisted the computer around for Tony to see. Onscreen was a colour photograph of a glass fronted building, and Tony scrolled down to find a series of blueprints and maps of Loki and Bucky's target. His target. A heavy weight settled in his stomach at the thought.

"Where is this place?"

"About a two hour drive from here. The vault is on the basement level," Loki continued, pointing to a large room on one of the blueprints. "There's a fire exit that leads out onto the street, so we won't have to try and slip in and out of the main entrance – though of course, the moment we open it we'll have alarms alerting everyone to our presence."

"Shouldn't be too hard to disable." He shrugged when Loki shot him a curious look. "You don't grow up around Howard Stark without picking up a few things."

He had always had an affinity with technology. He probably would have been quite at home working at Stark Industries, if not for the presence of his father. But then that was a pretty big 'if.'

"Do we know how much extra security there'll be?"

"Not yet," Loki said, "but we will going in. No-one's allowed on the vault floor while the security systems are down, so it's only getting to and from the vault that we'll have to be careful to avoid detection. Any information regarding shift changes or patrol patterns that we could have gathered with eyes on the bank will be useless with the added security measures."

Tony nodded, his mind gearing up as his gaze fell to the tablet sitting on the table alongside Loki's phone and half-empty mug of coffee. "Maybe that won't be important."

"You have an idea?"

"The beginnings of one." He took another sip of his drink while he tried to organise the thoughts racing through his mind and Loki sat watching him expectantly. "If we had a way to track the guards' positions, we'd be able to get in and out without coming across anyone."

"Do you think they already have a system in place to monitor their guards' whereabouts while they're on site?"

"Fancy company; probably wants to keep up a good reputation," Tony considered. "It's possible. If not, it'd be pretty easy to create our own. Figuring out how to actually get a tracker on the guards themselves is the tricky part."

"I'll find out what I can." Loki slid from his chair, phone in hand, and ducked outside just as he pressed it to his ear.

He'd only been outside for a few seconds when there was a creak from the hallway and Bucky's voice sounded. "Morning," he called. "Afternoon. Whatever." He emerged from the hall running his fingers through his hair as he yawned. "Coffee?"

"Over here."

He sank down into Loki's vacated chair and refilled the mug in front of him. "So what d'you think?" he said, nodding at the laptop still sitting before Tony.

"Seems like a solid plan." And they'd surely done this enough times to know what they were doing by now. They'd managed to evade capture for this long, at least. Of course, if Tony had had more self-control things probably would have gone a whole lot differently, but maybe now wasn't the best time to think about that. "When are we doing this?"

"Tuesday."

"This Tuesday?"

Bucky nodded. Jesus, that was only a few days away. He'd thought they would have more time to prepare.

"How do you feel about that?" Bucky said, watching Tony nearly as intensely as Loki had."There's still time to walk away if you need to."

"I've made my choice."

"And after?" Tony blinked and turned to meet Bucky's eyes again with a frown, and Bucky elaborated. "Well me and Loki are getting out – what are you gonna do when this is over?"

"Are you asking me to come with you?"

He shrugged. "Could if you want."

That was... more than a little tempting, actually. He felt far more at home with Bucky and Loki than he had just about anywhere else he could remember. But this wasn't his life. And maybe the one he'd been living before wasn't either, though heading off to pastures unknown with the pair probably wasn't the answer, as fun as it could be.

Tony opened his mouth to respond, despite not entirely knowing what he was going to say, but before he could form the words, Loki stepped back into the room, sliding his phone into his pocket as he closed the door behind him.

"All the additional guards the company provides during one of their installations have a GPS tracker on their keychains, monitored at their offices to ensure no-one breaches the rules against setting foot near the vault," he announced, coming to join them at the table as he spoke.

"That's handy. It'll be even easier to tap into their systems than come up with our own."

"You know how to do that?" Bucky said.

Tony paused to think for a moment. "If we could get one of those trackers I could do it."

"We already have our hands on one," Loki said. "Or we will."

Bucky frowned over the rim of his mug as he looked up at Loki sat opposite him. "How did–" he started, though he stopped short, understanding flooding his features. Whatever the realisation was, from the look on Bucky's face it wasn't a happy one. "Oh, no," he said pleadingly.

"This inside woman of yours?"

Loki nodded, his expression grim. "She's dropping it off tomorrow," he replied and glanced back at Bucky. "I'm hardly thrilled about it myself."

"I assume you guys aren't the best of buddies."

"It's certainly more an arrangement born of convenience than any particular desire to work together."

"She's a hurricane," Bucky explained to Tony.

That she most definitely was.

Tony and Loki were sat at the dining table again the next day, Tony still poring over the blueprints to familiarise himself with the bank's layout while Loki made sure what were presumably his tools for getting into the vault were in working order, when they heard the roar of an engine outside. Tony's head snapped round just in time to see a yellow convertible speed past the front windows and come to an abrupt halt outside the garage, and he and Loki both slid from their seats at the knock that followed a moment later.

A tall redhead strolled into the room as if she owned the place when Loki opened the front door. "Don't say I never do anything for you, dear Loki," she said, withdrawing a set of keys from her coat pocket and thrusting them into Loki's hand as he closed the door behind her. "And I fully expect to be compensated for my troubles."

"You always are."

While Loki spoke, the woman shrugged off her coat to reveal a form-fitting blue dress beneath it, tossing it over the back of the couch with a flourish and looking around the room. "This is nice," she said, before her gaze fell to Bucky and Loki's half-packed possessions littering the hall and she wrinkled her nose. "Or it could be, if you boys tidied the place up a little."

"I didn't realise we were expecting royalty."

She shot Loki a look that said he really should have known better, though Loki was too busy studying the keys in his hand to pay her any mind as the pair headed back towards the dining area.

"Well," she said when she noticed Tony still stood beside the table, her eyes flicking up and down appreciatively, "this is a handsome one, isn't he?"

Tony grinned. "I like you already," he replied, and she offered him a toothy smile in return.

"Loki, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Lorelei, Tony; Tony, Lorelei," Loki said, sounding thoroughly bored as he did so and waving his hand absently between them, before turning his attention back to the set of keys to find the GPS tracker.

"Enchanté." She held out an elegantly long-fingered hand for him to shake, and the moment Tony had released it again she swung her head round to look at Loki sitting back at the table, her long hair tumbling over her shoulder with the movement. "Now don't tell me you've cast aside that charmingly unsophisticated little thing you were running around with?" she said. "I rather liked him."

"I haven't gone anywhere," Bucky said as he emerged from the garage wiping his hands clean with an oil-stained rag.

"James! How good to see you."

Bucky returned Lorelei's smile with one of his own, though it looked more civil than anything. It was definitely lacking the warmth Tony had grown used to. Lorelei did seem pretty larger-than-life, though; maybe Loki and Bucky's wariness was warranted.

She turned her attention back to Tony. "So does this mean you have no-one to warm your bed at night, Tony?"

"How did you get your hands on this?" Loki cut in before Lorelei could push Tony back into the chair and straddle him like she seemed ready to. Tony couldn't say he'd really mind if she did, though. He'd always liked forward women.

"You have your charms, Loki, and I have mine."

"Yes, I'm all too familiar with your charms, thank you."

Tony glanced back to Bucky, who nodded in answer to the silent question on Tony's face. So Loki and Lorelei, huh? He'd bet that was a match made in hell. Luckily, before he could spare too much thought on the carnage they could have caused as a couple, Loki stood and rounded the table to reach Lorelei's side.

"Well if that will be all, Lorelei–" he started, though she quickly cut him off.

"Ah," she said, pressing a hand to Loki's chest as he moved to lead her back to the door. "Nice try, Laufeyson. Are we forgetting the small matter of payment?"

"How careless of me."

"Indeed. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to play me. As if you ever could."

Loki pursed his lips, but whatever remark he might have made in response he kept to himself. He turned and headed towards the small office without a word and Lorelei followed. Tony had to assume that was where Bucky and Loki had been keeping their spoils – he certainly hadn't stumbled across any bags stuffed full of cash in the time he'd been staying in the house – but the pair had proved exceptionally good at distracting Tony from thinking about that part of their lives.

It was impossible to avoid now, though.

The office door pushed shut silently behind them, leaving Tony and Bucky alone in the main room, and Tony's eyes darted to Bucky crossing towards the kitchen area, watching the closed door warily once he'd tossed the dirty rag in his hand back into the cupboard under the sink.

"You don't trust her?"

"You'd be an idiot to." Bucky replied. "But she's all mouth. Mostly." He gave the door one last frown before meeting Tony's gaze and forcing a smile back onto his face. It looked like he was trying to reassure himself as much as Tony. "As long as it suits her she'll help us, and ratting us out will only land her in trouble as well, which she's pretty damn keen to avoid."

Tony nodded, though he wasn't entirely comforted by Bucky's words. He had no trouble believing Lorelei was only out for her own interests; regardless of her history with Loki, Tony couldn't see any reason why she would want to aid in Loki and Bucky's larceny if there was nothing for her to gain from it. He just hoped Bucky was right about her staying silent.


	11. Chapter 11

Tony's worries didn't ease over the next few days. He hadn't really expected them to, not with Tuesday steadily creeping up on them. Even Loki and Bucky seemed more subdued than usual, the light-hearted small talk and teasing Tony was so used to hearing in the background gone, replaced with a quiet determination as they made their final preparations, though Tony had been too lost in his own thoughts to pay it much mind. He was still sat staring at nothing late on Tuesday afternoon, when Loki at last appeared in his peripheral vision and told him it was time to move.

After a car ride that seemed to last an eternity, they pulled up in the shadow of a tall brick building on a quiet street. Nothing remarkable from the back, with only a handful of windows dotted about the upper floors and a nondescript door just inside the alleyway separating it from the next building; quite the contrast to the imposing glass and steel façade they'd driven past on their arrival into town before the sun had set.

"Last chance to back out, Tony." There was a grin on Bucky's face when he twisted to look over his shoulder at Tony in the back seat.

Tony responded by grabbing the bags beside him and thrusting open the car door. "Let's get this over with."

He warily eyed the security camera angled towards the alley while he stepped out onto the sidewalk. Presumably the systems were down already. If not, this would be over before it began. There was a tiny, paranoid part of him expecting it, along with a thousand other things that could possibly go wrong and doom them all.

Bucky rounded the car and exchanged the bags in Tony's hands for a tablet. The blueprints of the bank were already onscreen, little white dots marking the guards' positions inside.

"The bank has been closed for 90 minutes," Loki said, checking his watch as he joined them. "Taking into consideration the time it would take to get set up and for the employees to leave, they'll be no more than an hour into the upgrade. Which gives us roughly the same length of time to do this."

"That's not long," Tony replied, and Loki gave a curt nod in agreement.

"Fortunately, we don't need much time."

Tony glanced down at the tablet in his hands as they hurried towards the fire exit. "There's a guard inside the hallway at the entrance to the lobby."

"They won't be a problem."

He wasn't entirely sure why, but Loki and Bucky had to know what they were doing, right? Of course, they were being hunted by the FBI thanks to their less-than-stealthy exploits, though if they were anxious to get out clean this time, Tony had to trust they'd do this right.

He set to work disabling the alarm, swinging the door open once he was done for the three of them to slip inside, and they made their way down a corridor lined with doors open to empty offices and break rooms, certainly lacking the glitz of the main entrance but by no means shabby. They hadn't made it far before Tony stopped short.

The sound of a man's voice echoed through the corridor – just around the corner, judging by the volume of it. There was no way he wouldn't see them. Though if Tony hung back a little, let Loki and Bucky go ahead of him, perhaps he'd be able to slip away unseen.

He dismissed that thought as quickly as it came to him. There was no backing out now. And even if he did somehow manage to get away, Loki and Bucky would have no compunction letting Tony's colleagues know about his involvement with their antics. No, the best way to get through this was to try and make sure this went off without a hitch. He could learn to live with himself for it later.

The soft tinkle of a woman's laughter followed the man's voice and Tony peered around the corner to see a redhead practically draped over the guard. Lorelei. Of course. Though that still didn't explain how they were supposed to pass by without being caught.

Loki went ahead first, apparently unconcerned by the guard's proximity, and he walked with confidence towards the elevator just past the door leading to the teller's area. Bucky strode after him, and Tony quickly followed. As they neared, Lorelei slid a piece of paper into Loki's hand, unbeknownst to the guard. He was so getting fired for this.

"Who are–" he started when he finally noticed them slipping past.

Lorelei waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry about them," she said smoothly, steering his gaze back to her with a finger dragging along his jaw. "I want to hear more about what it's like working on these upgrades. Being stuck in the office all day is enough to drive a woman stir crazy."

"I need to check their identification. No personnel are allowed downstairs..."

He wasn't about to stop them, though, too distracted by Lorelei invading his personal space, brushing her hand along his chest while Tony ducked past to where Loki was tapping the code from Lorelei's slip of paper into the keypad that controlled the elevator.

Oh, she was good.

"I thought you didn't want anyone else in on this?" Tony said once the doors closed behind them and they plunged down into the basement.

"We wouldn't have been able to just stroll onto the vault floor without someone to distract any guards we found."

"Well we would have done," Loki interjected.

"Not without casualties."

Tony blinked in response to Bucky's words. He wasn't sure he'd actually expected them to respect his conditions – especially not if it meant sharing a cut of the payoffs with someone else.

"And Lorelei has an almost supernatural ability to wrap men around her little finger," Loki added as the elevator doors peeled back to reveal an empty room, the door to the vault filling the opposite wall.

"That's how she got her claws into you, huh?"

Loki pulled a face. "I'm not proud of it."

He strode straight over to the door and carefully set his bag down, rooting through for the right tools and getting to work with the ease of someone who'd done this more times than Tony should really be comfortable with, while Bucky propped open the elevator doors to keep anyone upstairs from coming down.

"Might as well settle in," he said, and took a seat on the floor, patting the ground beside him for Tony to sit as well.

The moment he'd made himself about as comfortable as it was probably possible to get sitting on cold concrete, Tony glanced down at the tablet again. It was easier to stare at the tiny dots moving around than it was to watch Loki break into the vault. At least he knew this part of the plan would definitely work.

"How's it looking?" Bucky said, raising his voice a little to be heard over the sound of Loki carefully drilling into the door.

"Most of them are still working upstairs," he replied. "Doesn't look like they're about to come this way any time soon."

"They'll do a sweep once the systems are all up and running again. 'Course, we'll be long gone by then."

Tony's eyes flicked up to take in the confident smile on Bucky's face, though when the sound of drilling stopped and the room plunged into relative silence again his attention shifted back to Loki. With his back to them, Tony couldn't see much of what he was doing until Bucky climbed to his feet to join him and Tony shuffled into his abandoned spot, peering around Loki's shoulder to see him staring intently at the screen of a borescope inserted in the hole while he twisted the dials to the combination locks. After another minute or so he stood and pulled the door open.

"So," he said, gazing triumphantly from Bucky to Tony, "who wants to make some money?"

Tony watched absently while the pair emptied the vault. Even with Lorelei getting a cut, they had to still be walking away with millions; certainly enough to get them out of this life – if they could bring themselves to walk away from it, that was. Reluctant as he was to admit it, Tony could see how it would be hard to give up the thrill.

"Are we clear upstairs?" Loki said as he and Bucky gathered up their bags now full to bursting and rejoined Tony.

His gaze darted back to the screen. "There's just one guard in the hall."

"Lorelei will still be keeping him entertained, I imagine. Let's go."

They piled back into the elevator, and Tony's heart pounded as they approached the ground floor. They'd made it this far. If they could just get back out of the building and into the car they'd be fine. He hoped.

The doors opened again and they stepped out into the empty hallway, no sign of Lorelei or the guard she'd befriended, and no sounds of conversation drifting from further down the corridor. The white dot on Tony's tablet was in the men's room at the end of the hall; if they hurried they could get out before he reappeared – and if he was in there with Lorelei, the pair could be busy for a while yet.

They strode down the corridor as fast as they were able without making too much noise, but just as they reached the corner, the restroom door opened and a guard stepped out. It wasn't the one they'd passed earlier. And there was no Lorelei to distract him this time.

Tony froze, panic halting his steps, though at least the others weren't quite as useless as he proved to be. Dropping his bags to the floor, Bucky darted forwards, and the moment the man turned and spotted them, Bucky had him in a sleeper hold; residual instinct from his days in law enforcement, perhaps, or maybe he was just far quicker on his feet than Tony was. Either way, Tony wouldn't want to go three rounds with him.

The guard crumpled to the floor in an unconscious heap and Bucky slung his bags back over his shoulder. "Anyone else nearby?" he said to Tony.

"No; we're good."

"Quickly, then," Loki said, and they hurried back out of the building onto the thankfully still empty street and bundled into their car. Tony sank against the backrest and let out a long sigh as they pulled away.

Well. That had been an experience, to say the least.

He'd have thought with the job completed seemingly without complication, the drive back to the house would have been more relaxed than the silent ride away from it. But while Bucky was well and truly in the grip of his adrenaline rush, happily making conversation when he wasn't busy drumming along to the stereo, the sight of Loki sitting silent and ramrod straight in the driver's seat the entire journey was pretty damn effective at dulling whatever rush Tony might have enjoyed and replacing it with yet more anxiety.

But they'd gotten away with it, hadn't they? Bucky was certainly under that impression, and if Loki had spotted something to be concerned about, surely he would have shared his worries. But he didn't, instead spending the drive focusing on the road ahead more intently than was really necessary, answering in noncommittal hums whenever Bucky would speak to him directly, and the knot in Tony's stomach only tightened. He was going to have an ulcer by the time he returned home, he was sure of it.

Loki's tension finally evaporated once he pulled into the empty clearing in front of the house and they spilled from the car. He was even smiling while he emptied the trunk and tossed his bags over to Bucky, though when Bucky turned to head into the house Loki hung back, waiting until Tony glanced back at him to speak.

"I'm impressed," he said. "I fully expected your colleagues to be crawling all over the place upon our return."

That explained it. Tony should have known, really. Getting out of the bank was only half the risk for Loki and Bucky. "I've still got time," Tony replied with a shrug. "Could sell you boys out if I wanted."

Loki smiled again. And God, Tony hoped it was because Loki knew he was joking. "You'd be dead long before they found us," he said simply, and made his way inside after Bucky.

They were entwined when Tony entered the house, bags forgotten at their feet as they shared a languid kiss, and at the sound of the door closing behind Tony they broke apart just enough to glance in Tony's direction.

"So what now?"

"Now we sleep," Bucky said. "Lorelei's swinging by bright and early for her cut, and then we're outta here."

Put it like that, it sounded almost easy. The reality had to be quite different, though; even Tony was having trouble readying himself to walk away, and he'd only been a tourist in the life the pair had carved out for themselves here. But then, Loki and Bucky did still have each other, he supposed. They could probably start again anywhere as long as they were together.

Bucky's voice cut through Tony's thoughts. "Come on," he said, nodding his head towards the bedroom as he pulled out of Loki's embrace and moved to head down the hall. "Long day tomorrow."

 

Bucky hadn't been kidding when he'd said Lorelei would be showing up bright and early. They were awake with the sunrise, untangling themselves from each other's bodies for the last time, and had only just finished eating breakfast when Lorelei's car raced into the clearing in front of the house. She didn't bother knocking this time, instead letting herself in and sauntering straight across the room towards them.

"You really should lock your doors, boys," she said. "Anyone could walk in."

"That's why we have guns."

"Oh, James, you know you could never hurt me." Her eyes flicked from Bucky to Loki leaning against the counter beside him. "Now as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I do have a flight to catch, so if we could get straight to business..."

While Loki set to counting out Lorelei's share of their profits, Bucky and Tony started gathering up the boxes and suitcases piled by the front door and headed outside to load up their cars. Not for the first time, Tony was glad he'd packed light. He hated packing at the best of times, so when he wasn't exactly enthused about leaving in the first place, spending the last few days living out of a duffel bag at least gave him one less thing to worry about.

"Looks like this is goodbye, then," Tony said once he'd thrown his bag and jacket into the back seat of his car and come back to join Bucky.

Bucky nodded and offered Tony a smile that looked ever-so-slightly bittersweet. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one sad about going their separate ways. "You know," Bucky said, "the offer still stands. There's always room for one more."

"It's tempting – it's really tempting. But I should get back to reality. Someone needs to get the feds off your trail, anyway."

"What are you going to do?"

Tony shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

As he spoke Loki and Lorelei emerged from the front door, and with a wave in their direction Lorelei slipped back into her car and tore away. To his surprise, as the sound of the engine ebbed into nothing Tony realised he was actually going to miss her. She could have been fun company if he'd had the time to get to know her better. Maybe he'd have to ask Loki for her number for the next time his life needed spicing up a little.

"That the last of it?" Bucky called over to Loki loading the suitcase in his hand into the trunk.

"There's still another couple of bags. We've been living out of suitcases for the past year; how do we have so many belongings?"

"Don't ask me. It's all your crap."

Bucky turned back to Tony with an exasperated look on his face that quickly melted into a grin at Tony's laugh, and pulled him in for a hug.

"Try to keep out of trouble," Tony said as Bucky's lips brushed his cheek.

"We'll do our best." He stepped back to head towards the house, though before he could take more than a few steps he paused and faced Tony again. "I've been meaning to ask," he started hesitantly. "Steve–"

"He's fine," Tony replied, and relief washed away the uncertainty that had been marring Bucky's features. "Worried about you, but otherwise he's doing good. Getting married in a couple of weeks."

"To Peggy?"

Another smile spread across Bucky's face at Tony's nod, smaller this time, to the point where it would have been all too easy to miss it entirely.

"'Bout time." He didn't wait for Tony's response before disappearing back into the house.

Loki was rounding the car to reach Tony's side the moment Bucky had stepped away. "Here," he said, sliding the bag off his shoulder and handing it to Tony.

"What's this?" He didn't need to ask, really. He could guess easily enough what was inside it.

"For your trouble."

He raised his eyebrow. He'd have thought Loki and Bucky had compensated him more than enough for his part. "Caught you in a generous mood, huh?" he said while he crossed back to his own car to stow it with the rest of his things, and Loki followed.

"Bucky can be very persuasive when he wants to."

Tony chuckled at the suggestive glint in Loki's eye. "Take care of him," he said, glancing over to watch Bucky depositing their last few bags into their car, sliding his sunglasses on as he hopped into the driver's seat.

"I always do."

"Loki, come on," Bucky called. "We're wasting daylight."

He gave Tony one last smile. "Goodbye, Agent Stark," he said and joined Bucky, tossing his leather jacket onto the back seat and sliding in beside his partner in crime as the car roared to life. Some old rock song Tony couldn't quite recognise sounded throughout the clearing while they slowly pulled out onto the road, and Tony walked out after them, his arms folded across his chest despite the warmth of the sun shining down on them.

"See ya, Tony," Bucky said. "You ever change your mind about going back to your old life, come and find us."

The roar of the engine drowned out the music and they sped away, the dust that filled the air in their wake stinging Tony's eyes, but he stayed rooted in place, his smile fading as he watched them disappear into the distance.

That was that, then.

 

Tony sighed as he collapsed onto the sofa in his apartment without even bothering to shrug off his jacket first. He'd been back in Manhattan only a handful of days, and already he'd had to contend with getting read the riot act from Fury for disappearing without a word and the subsequent silent treatment, as well as doing his best to be possibly the worst fed in existence as he and Bruce attempted to investigate Tony's own crime.

He closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the wall, trying to regain some of the energy that was rapidly being drained by the life he was amazed he'd managed to survive for as long as he had. Honestly, he had no idea how he'd done it. What he did know, though, was that there wasn't much longer he could continue.

As his eyes fell open again they landed on the bags by the front door he still hadn't bothered to pack away; one filled with half a dozen changes of clothes, and the other enough money to get him anywhere in the world he wanted to go. He sat staring at them for a few long minutes, chewing on the inside of his lip, until he strode across the room to snatch them up and headed out of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for sticking with this story for the absurd amount of time it's taken get it finished; your comments have meant so much to me <3


End file.
